Un Coléoptère Dans La Neitherworld
by Gosen the Saiya-Jin
Summary: CARTOONVERSE Un Monstre A Paris/A Monster in Paris, Beetlejuice style. BJxLyds, AU
1. Chapter 1

**Un Coléoptère Dans La Neitherworld**

Never thought I'd ever write another Beetlejuice fic but this idea was just screaming at me! XD Goes hand in hand with my Un Monstre A Paris obsession. So I hope you enjoy my little AU fic. Keep in mind, I am just taking some elements from UMAP, so this whole thing will have some originality to it.

Enjoy! x3

It was a dark and stormy night at a castle in The Neitherworld. Not just any castle, mind you. It was the castle where the Prince of The Neitherworld lived. A gloomy, young looking boy named Vince. He was sitting on his throne; lying really. He was reading a book entitled 'Tragic Tragedies' Such sad stories he loved to read. Oddly enough, they kept him calm. All of a sudden, one of his servants broke through the huge double doors. For some strange reason, his underwear was over his head.

"Sire!" He yelled, read in the face with anger.

Vince jumped up with a concerned face as his servant stomped toward him. Vince placed his book on his royal chair and walked closer. He turned his head, "Is there something ...wrong?"

The servant pointed to his head, "That wretched prisoner of yours! He did this to me!"

The Prince blinked, "Oh, dear. I see.." Just then, he was handed a paper with a banana on it, "What is this?"

The servant's face relaxed and he folded his hands, "That is his last 'a peel', Your Majesty. You know what must be done"

Prince Vince nodded, "He must be fed to the Sandworms..."

The Prince felt a little bad for this prisoner but it could not be helped. He was nothing but trouble and wasn't doing anything to help his case. So, off the Prince went with his appeal in hands, down to the deepest part of his castle; to the dungeon inside his dungeon. Yes, it was that maximum security. All the guards bowed as he passed by. He finally reached a large metal gate and final guard. Prince Vince nodded at him and he opened the gate. Now, he was in a large hallway. At the end of this hallway was a dark cell. He walked towards it, cautiously. This prisoner was a tricky fellow.

"Be—" The Prince started but stopped himself. No, he mustn't say his name. His name is what gives him his power. Call him anything but his name. Vince straightened out his paper and cleared his throat. "Mr. Juice…"

Bright yellow eyes glowed at the sound of his voice. It was so dark, that they seemed like a night light. Definitely spooked the Prince to make him shudder a bit. His eyes lowered as he saw something else glowing; the prisoner's hands. Mr. Juice raised his hands causing Prince Vince to bite his fingernails a bit. However, to his surprise and relief, all he did was shoot a torch that was on the wall in his cell.

"Man, that was driving me crazy! I like the dark 'bout as much as any old spook but guy's gotta see where he's going! I swear, pranking gets harder every day without the right lighting! The agaaaaain, the best ones can be pulled off in the dark! Heh, heh, heh." The prisoner rubbed his hands together as he floated in mid-air, " 'Course, I'm getting nowhere with my magic being bound to this cell!"

"Actually, that's what I'm-" Vince started but was interrupted by him.

Mr. Juice pushed his arm through the cell and put an arm around the Prince; buddy-buddy like, "Hey, let's make a deal…I mean, let me out and I'll give the grossest collection of toenails you've ever seen! 100 years and a guy can accumulate quite a bit. Know what I mean? Pfft!" He laughed, hoping he would go for it.

Vince blinked, totally confused, "Toe…nails? ...Surely, you jest"

"No…but I can!" Mr. Juice changed into a black and white, striped jesters outfit and began juggling 3 of his heads, "I'll be the best jester this side of the Central Neitherworld! I can juggle, do magic tricks…" he leaned back and laughed, "Like, disappearing acts or even pulling a wool over your eyes, hahaha!"

Vince stepped back, "No, I don't think so…"

"C'mon, someone's gotta bring the afterlife back to this droopy castle! Stop acting like wearing a grin is a sin!" Mr. Juice yelled, now wearing his usual clothes again; black and white striped pants and a dark pink, long sleeved shirt, along with black boots and a dark grey coat that matched his hat. He also had on a dark red scarf, "You can't keep me in here forever…A century is long enough!"

"I couldn't agree more!" Prince Vince nodded.

The prisoner's eyes widened. He was in shock. He was actually going to be let go! "Alright, Princy! Glad to see you've finally come to your senses!" He wiped his nails on his coat and closed his eyes, "Now, just give me half you fortune and I'm suuuure we can put all this behind us…"

"Um…that's not what I meant…" Vince told him and held up the paper.

Beetlejuice opened his eyes took look at what was in front of him, "What in the Neitherworld—"

"It's your last appeal…" Vince answered.

Mr. Juice picked up the peel, "Banana peel, that is…" He stared back up at Vince and the Prince continued to speak.

"I'm sorry but it's been declined. No one in the Neitherworld wants you back and all you cause is trouble. So, I'm afraid, it's Sandworm Land for you…Do, forgive me"

His eyes bugged out of his head, "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT? Nononono!" Mr. Juice jumped onto the prison cell bars, grabbing at Prince Vince's shirt, "Anywhere but there! C'mon! You gotta believe me! I'm a good guy, honest! I wouldn't hurt a fly!" He transformed into a fly and his voice got squeaky, "Well, unless you count those three I had for breakfast…" He changed back to normal and in the same position, "But c'mon. I did my time! Lemme, out, lemme out, lemme ooooout!"

All of sudden, guards rushed into the area and pushed him and he fell on his back. Groaning, he sat up, glaring at them. "Why I oughta-"

The guards checked out the Prince, "Are you alright, Sire?"

"No, I am not alright..." He raised a hand and put it on his head so dramatically, "It is always my tortured soul that has to deal with such unruly prisoners. It is I who decides their fate and this one has come to an end. Why must even life after death be so cruel?" It began to rain and everyone was getting soaked.

One guard spoke quietly to the other as he shielded himself from the rain with a hand, "He gets this way every time we deal with a prisoner…"

"What a bummer!" The other guard said a little too loudly and it started to rain harder.

"Nice going!" The other yelled.

"Oh, shut up!" The guard yelled back and bonked him on the head. With that, they proceeded to walk out with the Prince.

Inside his cell, this doomed prisoner took a gulp, "Oh, man! What do I do now? I think this is one jam I won't get out of…" With that statement he turned into a jar of jelly and a terrified look on his face. Who could save him? What Vince had said was true. No one wanted him! He was all alone. So, he had better come up with some kind of plan soon or let's face it, he's Sandworm food!

This is my first chapter XD I haven't written chapter stories in such a looong time so I hope this is long enough to start with! I'm really getting into writing this story so I hope you guys enjoy this! X3 More soon!


	2. Chapter 2

**Un Coléoptère Dans La Neitherworld**

Onward to Chapter 2! The last one was a little short x333 Sorry about that! This one will be longer! Enjoy!

The next day rapidly approached and for many, it was the most anticipated day of their entire afterlives. Ghouls were rejoicing everywhere. There would be no more Beetlejuice. The Prince made his way back down to the dungeon to collect his prisoner.

"Mr. Juice? It's time." He spoke as he walked down the hall but got no answer.

Once he reached his cell, Vince was shocked to find out it had no occupant. He totally freaked out. Where in the Neitherworld could he have gone? His magic couldn't reach outside his cell, so he definitely couldn't have escaped that way. This was bad. The Prince took out his key and stuck it in the cell's keyhole. It clacked as he turned it and the door opened with a creaking sound. He walked inside and looked around. Nothing but an empty cell and a few smashed bugs.

"He couldn't have escaped…" Vince assured himself.

"You're right, Prince Drip…" Beetlejuice's voice echoed through the cell.

Prince Vince was so confused. He heard him but did not see him. All of a sudden, he spoke again.

"I _didn't_ escape. You just set me free! Hahahahaha!" Beetlejuice was finally visible on the outside of the cell and slammed the door shut, locking the Prince inside, "Make sure you say 'Hi' to the Sandworms for me! I'd do it myself but you know…" He pulled out a watch, "Got a schedule to keep" With that he disappeared in a smoky cloud of bats and trash, "Got a hundred years of juicing to catch up!"

Prince Vince blinked, "Oh dear…This can't be good.." His eyes drooped and it began to rain over his head.

Beetlejuice was finally free and he couldn't be more ecstatic. Just being able to stretch his legs and run around felt amazing. A few pranks were achieved and he felt like his old self again. He closed his eyes and laughed as he shot his magic in random directions. He then listened for the wonderful sound of screams which he loved so much.

Beetlejuice hugged himself and looked upward in a loving way, "I'm hoooome!" He smiled, "And hey, speaking of home, I wonder how the ol' Roadhouse is doing. I wonder if my old victims…pfft!...neighbors". He jokingly corrected himself, "…are there"

The self-proclaimed Ghost with The Most decided to travel there. He hadn't seen the place in over a century. When he arrived, it looked a little different. His 'BJ' sign was gone.

"Now that is some nerve!" With that he turned into an actual nerve and juiced the sign back, "Now that's better!" He changed back to normal and walked up to the door, humming.

He jiggled the handle but it wouldn't open. So, he rang the doorbell but got no answer either. Frustrated, Beetlejuice just decided to break down the door. "Ah!" Beetlejuice exclaimed once inside and took a huge whiff of the house. But shortly after doing so, he coughed loudly. His eyes shot open and as he gazed upon the house, he almost had a mental breakdown. Beetlejuice began shaking.

He tried to find his voice, "Iii…Iii…It's…CLEEEEEEEEEAN!" He ran around the house, "Where's my dirt?" He looked up, "Why isn't there mold growing from the ceiling? Wheeeeere's my fiiiiiilth?"

He figured that being gone for so long, his house would be grosser than ever. But no, it was spotless. Not one speck of dirt or cockroach could be found. He had a _nice _place…

Beetlejuice literally melted into a pile of black and white mush on the floor. Just then, he heard someone behind him. His eyes moved to the back of his mush pile to see who it was. He smiled as he saw his old neighbors. In a little under a second, he lifted from the mush pile back into his normal form. Seeing him, the two gasped and moved back a little.

"B-Beattlejuice!" exclaimed the French skeleton. He was wearing long red pants and a blue and white overcoat with a red beret. His companion was a pink spider wearing a red coat; pink tap shoes a thick brimmed black hat.

"Jacques! Ginge! Long time no see!" Beetlejuice said with false enthusiasm, "Didja miss me!"

"Beetlejuice!" Ginger glared, tapping a foot, "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in prison?"

"Wouldja believe it? Early parole!" He lied.

"After a 'undred yeears..?" Jacques shrugged, looking confused.

"Yeah! Got off for good behavior" Beetlejuice continued, looking up with a cheesy grin.

Ginger put her hands on her sides, "Okay, now I _really _don't believe you!"

"Heeeey! How about a leap of faith?" Beetlejuice asked and then shot her up in the air.

"Eeek!" She screamed, as she landed on the other side of the living room with a thud.

Beetlejuice put a finger to his bottom lip and looked at her from the corner of his eye, "…Oops"

"Beattlejuice!" Jacques glared as he went to help Ginger up but Beetlejuice had his leg out with a smirk as the skeleton tripped and smashed into pieces as he hit the floor.

"Haha! That's just like you, Jacques. Always falling to pieces around me!" Beetlejuice had himself a laugh. He hadn't been able to torture these guys for years.

"That is not funny. I would not be laughing if I were you!" Jacques warned.

"Haha, if you were me and saw the look on your faces, you would be!" Beetlejuice continued laughing. "Man, how I have missed this!" They growled him but he continued. He began to float and crossed his legs. A small black book appeared in his hands, "I have the rest of our week all planned out…It'll be just like old times! And I don't mean that newspaper, pfft!"

"I do not think so!" Jacques cried angrily, "I am beginning to remember why I wanted you locked up in ze first place! Ooooh! I am calling ze authorities!"

"Ha!" Beetlejuice threw his head back and then looked all-knowingly at Jacques, who was still in pieces, "I'd like to see you try!"

All of a sudden, he saw one of Jacques' arms crawling across the floor and inching toward a wall. He watched it as it reached up the wall and slammed on a large red button. Instantly, a red light filled the house and a blaring sound as heard, seemingly screeching "Beetlejuice Alert!" He could hear sirens in the distance.

His eyes shrunk, "Wow…That was a good try! When did we get that" Beetlejuice screamed as he bolted out of the house, arms flailing.

Beetlejuice had been running for a long time. The cops were on his tail and came close a couple times but he managed to elude them, luckily. Unfortunately, he was so far off that he didn't know where he was anymore. The Central Neitherworld had changed quite a bit in his absence. It also began to rain; a few drops at first. He wiped them off his face but then there were more and more and before long, it was raining really heavily. Glancing at his surroundings, he realized he was in a very different part of the Neitherworld. He wasn't sure about it. Beetlejuice glanced back

"Well, I guess anywhere's better than being than being chased by cops back there…No one will think to look for me here!" He put his hand on the gate in front of him.

Just then he heard a noise and thought he saw a couple beams of light. Beetlejuice instantly ripped the gate open and ran off into this unknown place. He ran and ran until he couldn't anymore. He stopped and tried catching his breath, crouched down with his hands on his knees.

"Whew!" He sighed in relief. "Now, I gotta find a place to stay" Beetlejuice looked around, "Can't be out in the open for too long!" He smiled, "No one knows me in this part of the Neitherworld. I'm sure I can find a nice ghoul to take me in!" Just then he shuddered. "Okay…maybe not _too_ nice…Yick! Can't believe I said that!"

Beetlejuice adjusted his hat and walked up to a door. He coughed, checked his breath and then closed his eyes as he knocked. He heard it open and he opened his eyes with a smile. His face fell as he laid his eyes on the cutest little blonde girl with huge blue eyes and a pink tutu he had ever seen. He took a step back in fear, "YAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"EEEEEEEEEK!" She screamed, too.

"AHHHHH!" He screamed back

"EEEEEE"

"Aaaaaah!" Beetlejuice screamed again.

They went back and forth for a few seconds before the little girl slammed the door and Beetlejuice could hear her panicking, "Mommy! There's an ugly monster out there!

Beetlejuice laughed a little, "At least, she knows how to flatter a guy!" He found a little amusement at her fear. After all, he did pride himself in being scary.

However, this wasn't going well. If everyone was afraid of him, how would he ever find a place to hide? He'd be back in jail in no time! He bit his nails just at the thought! Beetlejuice decided not to give up hope! He kept going door to door but kept getting the same result. At one house, he merely looked in the window to see if anyone was home and got yet another scream.

"Oh, come on! Am I really _that_ scary?" Beetlejuice fumed and took out a mirror. He smiled at it and it cracked and exploded, "Whoaa…" He picked pieces of glass out of his skin, "Guess I am.."

He sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "Guess I'm just a wash out that no one wants!" He wound up his body like a wash cloth and squeezed all the water out of him. He changed into a band outfit, "Everyone wants to rain on my parade…" He cried a little and fell to his knees, back in his normal clothing.

"Well…It could be worse…" Beetlejuice said, trying to be optimistic. Just then, he was struck by lighting and screamed as it lifted him up. After a second or two, he fell to the ground. His voice got deeper and he blinked his yellow eyes, "Shockingly, I guess it can't!"

Inside one of the houses sat a young girl. She must have been about 14 years old. She had black hair that was tied up in a bun and pale skin. She was wearing a light purple dress that was long sleeved and almost covered her feet. There was a large purple and pink sash in the center. Her name was Lydia Deetz. She had been listening to the radio for the latest scary story on a station called 'Fear For The Whole Family' Just then, the radio started to cut in and out.

"Oh!" She complained, banging on it, "Don't die on me now! We're just getting to the good part!"

Just then a broadcast came through. It wasn't her stories, though:

_Just in. Lock your doors and windows. I repeat, lock you doors and windows. There is a monster in the colony. I repeat, a monster has invaded the Living Colony. Do not go outside. Central Neitherworld entity _

Lydia turned the nob and turned it off, rolling her eyes, "Oh, brother…Yeah, right" She sat back in her chair and relaxed as she just listened to the rain. It was so soothing. Just then, young Lydia Deetz had heard a strange sound outside her house. She blinked a couple times, "Huh?"

Lydia stood, "That sounded like it was coming from outside.." She began to walk but then stopped herself.

She remembered the radio announcement. They told her to stay indoors and if she was caught going outside, she could get in trouble. Ooooh, but she was just so curious and it gave her an excuse to go outside; In the rain! It was such a wonderfully stormy day out. She loved days like this most of all. It was so nice and gloomy. So, she took the occasion to ignore what it said take a look outside, umbrella in hand. She smiled and giggled as she saw the rain fall around her. She spun a little and danced. Just then, she heard a sound again. She gasped a little and then looked around. The young girl couldn't see anything, especially with how dark it was outside. She looked around a bit more and then finally got a glimpse of something. She squinted and could see a knelt figure in the distance. Lydia walked closer to said figure.

'Oh! It's a man!' She thought.

He was looking down. She merely smiled and hovered her umbrella above him.

"Huh?" The man said in his hoarse voice and he looked up. He saw a young girl holding an umbrella. He couldn't think of a thing to say. He was taken aback by her kind act.

Lydia finally saw his face; a pale purple, with bright yellow eyes with dark purple circles around them and abnormally green teeth.

He cringed as he saw her examining him but then was pleasantly surprised when he heard her speak, "Deadly vu!" He assumed that was a compliment and he laughed a little.

Lydia laughed a little and then got a little nervous as she waved at him, "Um..Hello there! D-do you have a name...?"

He just stared at her. So, she crouched down and offered her hand to show she was friendly and gave him such a sweet smile. It would've given him cavities if his teeth weren't already rotten. Beetlejuice hesitated at first but finally put his hand in hers and she helped him up.

"You're getting all wet out here. You don't wanna get sick." Lydia spoke.

"Well, I'm already sick!" He joked and she laughed. Beetlejuice was pleasantly surprised once again. He wasn't used to people actually laughing at his humor. Usually, they would get angry and possibly throw him out.

"You're funny! …Oh, by the way. Let me introduce myself. My name is Lydia. Lydia Deetz!" Lydia said, shaking his hand. She gave him the umbrella to hold, as she got soaking wet, "Come on, I'll help you!"

'I'll help you!' Beetlejuice played those words in his mind, 'I don't think I've ever heard that phrase in my whole afterlife…Lydia, huh? I think I'm gonna _like _you!'

And that would be Chapter 2 8D Glad I was able to make it longer. Hope you guys are enjoying it so far! It only gets more interesting from here on!


	3. Chapter 3

**Un Coléoptère Dans La Neitherworld**

Chapter 3! OH boy 8D I am just so into this story! I hope you guys are liking it so far x3 It's been too long since I've written fanfiction. Also, I am going to try to proofread better. Sorry if I am the Typo Queen XD I suck

Lydia took this Stranger by the hand and led him back to her house. He looked up and noticed the size of her house. It was pretty big. Perfect for hiding!...But wait! He was shaken out of his thoughts. Was he in The Living Colony? If that were true, no _wonder_ everyone was so scared of him! That also meant that if this girl's parents saw him, all they'd have to do is make one call and its back to the slammer! He ripped his hand out of her grip, shocking her a little bit.

"Huh?" She blinked and then stared at him.

"I can't go in _theeere_" Beetlejuice laughed nervously, inching backwards.

"And exactly why not?" Lydia asked with her hands on her hips.

Beetlejuice looked around, trying to come up with an excuse, "Umm…Uh…well…The Weather's so nice out! Perfect for catching a cold! 'Course, everyone knows they're just dying to be caught, haha…"

"That's it! You're coming inside with me this instant." Lydia grabbed his wrist and that's when he yelled.

"Waaaait! You don't understaaand!" Beetlejuice panicked.

"What in the Neitherworld are you talking about?" Lydia asked.

"Um…ah….I'm kinda glued to this spot…" He relaxed as glue appeared under his feet.

She didn't notice so she just rolled her eyes. Lydia wasn't about to just leave this Stranger in the cold. It wouldn't be right even if he was hesitant. Besides, for all she knew he was still alive and could die out there if left out all night. Besides, there was still that warning about the Central Neitherworld monster. She didn't really believe it but she wasn't going to tempt fate. So, Lydia grabbed both of his arms and began to pull as hard as she could, grunting as she did so. He really was not kidding!

"Come…." She said and with one final violent tug, "..ONNNNNNN!" She yelled as the two of them flew backwards and through her front door.

Lydia sat up, a little dizzy and with Beetlejuice laying on her. She put a hand to her head and then shook it to regain her composure, "…You okay?" She asked dizzily.

Beetlejuice sat up, a bit dizzy as well, "Think so..Might've lost a few marbles, though.."

Lydia shook her head once more and then stood up. She began brushing herself off and he just watched her, a little confused about her and her motives.

"Listen, uh, Babes…" He began

"Lydia" She corrected.

"Right, right…I actually can't stay…" He looked back at the door, "I mean a reeeeally can't stay…"

She folded her arms, "Well, you're not going back out there. Not until the rain lets up a little bit…"

Beetlejuice sighed. This Lydia was being so difficult! Sure, he appreciated the fact that she didn't scream in his face like everyone else but she did have parents. Parents who probably would. But there was nothing he could do about that right now, not without giving himself away. He stood up and sat on a chair in the room.

"Uh…nice place you got here…"Beetlejuice said as he looked around, "…could use a few bugs, though"

She laughed and he looked at her. He coughed a little and then decided to speak again, "So, I'm a bit of an out-of-towner, ya know what I mean? What is this place…?"

"Oh! You mean, the town?" Lydia wondered, and as he nodded, she answered, "This is Peaceful Pines…The last town in The Living Colony on the edge of the Neitherworld, right before the Central Neitherworld, actually…"

"You don't say!" Beetlejuice laughed nervously. So he _was_ in The Living Colony

Lydia nodded, "Yeah, you're just lucky I was outside when I was. You could have gotten into big trouble out there…"

Beetlejuice's eyes widened. He was really curious as to what she meant. She couldn't have realized who he was. So he put a hand to his mouth and spoke again, "Wh-Why do you say that?"

Lydia pointed back to her radio, "Well, apparently, Peaceful Pines is on Lockdown. They said that some kinda of 'mooonster'" she used air quotes, "…got into The Living Colony...Isn't that the silliest thing you've ever heard?"

"Oh, yeeeah!" Beetlejuice laughed nervously and threw a hand, "The things on the news these days…"

"In fact…" Lydia put a finger to her bottom lip and walked over to her radio. She turned it on. A few moments of static and then she could hear a message coming through:

_Update. Monster has been spotted in Peaceful Pines. I repeat, there is a monster in Peaceful Pines. Several citizens have reported seeing said monster and have given descriptions. He was last seen wearing..BZZZZZZZZZZT! KROOOM! _

That was the end of it. Lydia's radio had blown up! Behind her, Beetlejuice could be seen blowing smoke off his pointer finger.

'That takes care of that!' He thought, smirking.

"Oh, no! My radio!" She shook it but it was no use. It was deader than Beetlejuice and he made sure to that, "Now how will I hear my scary stories?"

Beetlejuice blinked, "You…like scary stories?"

Lydia turned around and smiled at his interest, "Only the scariest! Mother doesn't really approve. So after my parents are asleep, I come down here to listen to my favorite radio show, "Fear For The Whole Family' Streams straight from The Central Neitherworld!"

Beetlejuice jumped in front of her, "Are you kiddin' me? That's _my_ favorite show!" He looked up with admiration and his hands folded, "Gee, I remember when it first came out…"

Lydia laughed because she though he was joking, "Haha, good one. That's impossible, it's been out for 500 years…"

Beetlejuice's face fell and he placed a hand behind his head, "Oh…yeeaah…! I must be thinking of some other show…" Phew! That was a close one.

Man, this Lydia was definitely his kind of girl. She laughed at all his jokes and was totally into a bunch of spooky and gross stuff. Maybe he could trust her after all. He looked up at the wall and saw the creepiest most detailed photo of a spider he had ever seen.

"Whoa…" He looked entranced as he walked up to it.

Lydia looked at what he was staring at and smiled.

Beetlejuice began talking, "Now that is just the grossest thing I have ever seen! And trust me, I know gross!"

She giggled, "Thanks! I was going for that!"

He turned around, "Huh?"

"I took it myself!" She replied.

"From who?" Beetlejuice questioned.

"Haha!" Lydia laughed, "No, no, I didn't _steal_ it. I meant, I took it myself with a camera"

"Wow, That's amaaaazing, Babes!" Beetlejuice complimented.

Lydia felt flattered. It was always nice to see someone appreciated her work. Her parents thought it was strange and all the kids at school just teased her, making her feel so weird and out of place. It didn't help that she had no friends to be supportive. Thinking about it made her a little bit sad.

"What's with the frown, Lyds?" Beetlejuice blinked as he examined her face.

She shook her hands, "Oh, it's nothing! I'm glad you like my photo…It's just…"She kicked the floor a little bit and then looked up with a shrug, "Well, bugs can only get you so far!"

Beetlejuice put a hand under his chin and frowned as well, "Gotta admit, they aren't such a reliable source of transportation."

"Haha, I meant in photography…I wish I had something really spooky to take a picture of!" She looked up, "Oooh! If only I could go to the Central Neitherworld for a day! Can you imagine the things I could capture?"

Beetlejuice didn't know what to say. He wanted to help her. After all, she did help him. But, he couldn't give himself away and he definitely couldn't go back to the Central Neitherworld. It was swarming with cops and people who wanted him double-dead.

"Ah, but what am I going on about?" She folded her hands behind her back, "Everyone knows that's forbidden!"

"But, why?" Beetlejuice inquired.

"Oh, everyone knows that. You're older than me, you should know better than I could!" Lydia returned but decided to tell him anyway, "Ages ago, this Colony was made. There was a link between the human world and the land of the dead, known as The Neitherworld. I learned about it in school. They say the colony was built here as a way for Humans to see their dead relatives once they passed on. I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time. But, a lot of people back then couldn't handle what the people they used to know looked like. Not just that, other people were just invading the Central Neitherworld and before long, it was just like it was some tourist attraction. The original purpose was lost and Central Neitherworld inhabitants were just treated as if they were so kind of freak show. So, a war was started. That's why it was decided to ban travel between the two sections of the Neitherworld. A lot of people think it was a mistake for us to settle here in the first place but it's not like there's any way back, anyhow…" Lydia sighed but then looked up with a smile, "Even so, I'd love to visit the Central Neitherworld! I bet it's the freakiest!"

"I'd love to show you the Neitherworld!" Beetlejuice slipped and then covered his mouth.

Lydia knew he wasn't serious, "That's sweet of you"

"Sweet?" Beetlejuice cringed and had slight muscle spasms, "Yeee-UCK!"

Lydia covered her mouth and closed her eyes as she laughed and then looked up at him, "Would you like something to drink?"

He just looked at her and she lured him into the kitchen. He shrugged and followed with a smile, "Phlegmonade if you got it…Extra Phlegm"

Lydia smiled and looked back at him, "You're a real jokester, aren't you?"

"Hey, who's joking?" He shrugged again.

She shook her head and looked inside her refrigerator, "Hmmm…uhh….do you like juice…?"

The ghost had to laugh, "Haha, trust me, Babes. Juice is definitely my thing…"

"Great" Lydia said as she took the pitcher out of the refrigerator. She grabbed a glass from the cupboard and then looked back, "By the way, you still haven't told me your name…"

"That's cause I can't…"Beetlejuice answered.

"Why not?" Lydia asked.

Beetlejuice fidgeted, adjusted his hat as he tried to think of some excuse, "Well, ah…" After a second or two of pondering, he perked up, "It's a secret! That's it!"

"A secret, huh?" Lydia inquired, asking herself. She glanced to the side in thought and then looked back at him, "How about we play a guessing game?" The girl handed him his juice.

He raised an eyebrow and took his cup. He lifted it up to his mouth, "…kay…"

Lydia clasped her hands together, folding every finger except her pointer fingers. She thought for a second and then pointed at him, "Okay, give me a hint to start with!"

"Well, it's kind of strange! Sorta like me, hehehe…" He replied in an amused tone.

"Hmmm…Okaaay…" Lydia closed her eyes. She opened them and shouted, "Francoeur!"

Beetlejuice looked weirded out. So, Lydia knew straight away that wasn't it.

"Raoul?" She asked.

"Ick! No way!" Beetlejuice cringed.

Lydia put a hand on her cheek and looked to the side in an unpleased way, "You're right, that _is_ kind of a stupid name…"

Beetlejuice decided to help her out. Lydia was definitely starting to grow on him. He wanted her to know his name, at least.

Lydia closed her eyes and banged on her head with her hands, "Come on, I can figure this out…" All of a sudden, she heard a glass fall and her eyes shot open. She looked down and saw Beetlejuice's drink all over the floor, "Oh, no…!" She glared at him a second but stopped once she saw his face. His eyes were half closed and his hand was gesturing to the spilled drink, "…Juice…?"

He nodded.

"That's your name…?"

Beetlejuice shook his head.

"That's _part_ of your name…?"

"You got it, Lyds!" He smiled.

"Well, then what's the other part..?" She wondered.

Behind his back, he snapped his fingers. He used his magic to make a bug appear on the floor. Lydia looked down and saw it. She wondered where it came from. Lydia looked back up at him who was smiling and resting his cheek on hand.

"Uh…Bug Juice…? Juice Bug…Buggy Juice…Juicy Insect..Beetle…That's right! It's a beetle!" Lydia smiled. She had it now, "Your name is..Beetle Juice!"

Lydia shot her head up with confidence, "Beetlejuice!" Soon her face fell and she shrieked. He was floating in midair with his legs crossed.

"Yep! That's my name! Didn't think it was scream worthy, though!" Beetlejuice said. He reached to put his arm on the table but as he felt around, all he could feel was air. He opened his eyes and yelled, "Hey! Where's the floor?" He looked down at Lydia's shocked face and just got an 'oh crap' look on his. Before long, He fell to the floor with a thud, "Oof!"

"Y-y-you can fly…" Lydia spoke.

Beetlejuice laughed, still lying on the floor,"…Did I forget to mention that…?"

"What are you…?" She asked, still in shock.

Beetlejuice groaned, "..In deep trouble!...WHOA!" He yelled as he felt her pull him upright. He felt confused as he saw the smile on her face.

"You're from The Central Neitherworld, aren't you? I knew you were too weird to be from The Living Colony…Deadly Vu! You must be the monster they were talking about!"

Beetlejuice got on his knees and grabbed her hands, "I'm begging you! Pleeeease don't turn me in! They'll feed me to the sandworms! I don't wanna die _AGAIN_!"

"Okay, Beetlejuice, okay! I'm not going to turn you in!" Lydia tried assuring him.

He hugged her waist, "You're the best friend a ghoul could ask for!"

"On one condition…" She spoke up

His smile faded, "I knew it was too good to be true…"

"I'll keep you safe. All I want from you is to help me get some spooktacular photos for the upcoming Photography show!" Lydia said.

"Oh! That'll be a no-brainer, Lyds!" Beetlejuice said and his brain popped out of his head. She screamed for a second but then smiled.

"My goodness, what have I gotten myself into…?" Lydia said with a little bit of humor and nervousness.

Beetlejuice put his arm around her and said, "Lydia, I think this is the beginning of a 'Boo'tiful friendship! Hahaha" He laughed and she had to join in.

And that's the end of that chapter. I hope you guys liked it. Hope I am doing a good job translating these characters into a different universe. I shall write the next chapter soon!


	4. Chapter 4

**Un Coléoptère Dans La Neitherworld**

Now, it's Chapter 4! XD I believe this is the first fanfic where I have just been on a roll with updates. Then again, it is also the first story where I story-webbed the beginning to the end. Usually I just wing it and see where it takes me XDDD This is a life lesson that I learned sooo late. I mean, I was taught about storywebs in what, 2nd or 3rd grade, and up till now I always thought they were a waste of time but no, they're actually helpful! Anywho, I'm going to shut up now and start writing XD

-

A bit of time had passed and Beetlejuice and Lydia sat down on the couch in her living room. He proceeded to tell her a lot of things and she began to understand him. Beetlejuice told her so much; from what the Central Neitherworld was like to his love of bugs. There was so much more to tell. He hadn't been able to talk seriously with another person since…well, he couldn't remember! It was then that he began telling her all about how he had been imprisoned. Beetlejuice told her about how his practical jokes and pranks landed him in jail and how had eluded the law so many times that everyone in the Central Neitherworld just wanted him gone for good. Also, had he not escaped, he would be Sandworm chow right about now.

"That's just awful…" Lydia spoke up, after hearing his tale. "You don't seem like sucha bad guy to me..."

"Haha, maybe that's cause you just don't know me that well…" He laughed.

Hearing that comment, Lydia smirked, "I'm guessing maybe you _want_ me to turn you in, then…"

Beetlejuice jumped, standing on the couch "No, no, no, no! I'll be good, honest!"

Lydia lifted her arms up and down, gesturing for him to sit, "Relax, Beetlejuice. I'm only kidding!"

He slumped down on the couch with a mopey look on his face, "Let's face it, Lyds. I'm a bad apple…" With that he changed into a large, rotting apple with a sad look on his face.

Lydia jumped a little but then relaxed. It was going to take a while to get used to his visual puns. She stared at him as he changed back. Beetlejuice was a bad guy. He was a con artist, a prankster, and a blight on his community. But there was something else…Maybe she was just crazy…I mean, she had just met him so how would she know? But still, she could feel something else about him. Maybe he wasn't so bad. Maybe, he just needed a friend. She could do that, Lydia thought with a smile. The girl stood up and walked in front of him. He looked up at her with an eyebrow raised.

"I know _just_ what you need!" She grabbed his hand, "Come on"

She pulled and he stood up, following her lead. Lydia took him upstairs. As they reached the top step, she glanced back at him. She put a finger to her lip and whispered, "Shhh!" Beetlejuice blinked and tiptoed with her until they were at the hallway's dead end. Lydia glanced upward and saw a dangling string. She yanked on it and down came a staircase.

"Follow me" She whispered as she began climbing the stairs.

He just shrugged and climbed behind her. After a minute or two, they found themselves in a large room.

Beetlejuice was amazed as they walked around. "It's so dusty and nasty up here…" he cringed but then a smile flew across his face, "It feels like home!"

Lydia giggled, "Glad you like it!"

"So, why'd you bring me up here, Babes?" Beetlejuice inquired.

Lydia walked toward a trunk, "Well, it wasn't to enjoy the view.." She kneeled before the brown and gold trunk and tried to lift it. It was stuck. She groaned slightly as she tried pushing it open. When she finally managed to; she fell back with a sigh. Lydia stood and dusted herself off, before turning around to look at Beetlejuice.

"If you don't want people to find you, you're going to need a disguise…Something that won't give you away…I can only do so much. Some of father's old clothes oughta do the trick!" With that she turned around and dove halfway into the trunk and began throwing things behind her, most of them landing on Beetlejuice. She pulled out a white mask and turned around with a smile. Her face fell as she noticed Beetlejuice now covered with the clothing. "Oooh…sorry…" Lydia laughed nervously.

"People have always said I was 'Clothes' minded…" Beetlejuice joked with a laugh.

"Let me help you out…" Lydia said as he walked over to him and pushed all the extra clothes off of him. "Now, take off your coat..."

He nodded and did so. After that, she gestured him over to a mirror behind the trunk. Beetlejuice looked at himself in the mirror. Just then, Lydia took the mask she had found and placed it over his eyes and nose. Beetlejuice examined himself. He leaned closer to the mirror, looked left, right, up and down, "Heeey, this looks nice!"

"That'll hide your features so no one will recognize you…" Lydia told him.

Beetlejuice gave a look, "It's a crime to hide such an ugly face!"

Lydia gave a laugh, "I guess it's a price you're going to have to pay…" It amused her how everything about Beetlejuice was backwards. He could take any insult as a compliment and a lot of compliments as insults. He was so weird…but she liked that!

"Okay…so…" Lydia said as she went back in the trunk, "Now we need to find you some different clothes…"

He stayed standing in front of the mirror as she brought him over a few things. She removed his dark grey hat and tried a few others on him. The first was a fluffy pink hat that seemed to have boa-like feathers on it. They both made a disgusted face and she tore it off his head. She replaced it with a black top hat but even that was too much; definitely a no. Lydia found a normal looking hat, not too frilly and not too absurd. It was a creamy white and as she put it on his head it just fit. They both smiled and said "perfect" in unison,

"Hold on…" Lydia said as she took a hair tie and a brush. She removed the white hat and began brushing his hair, causing a few bugs to jump out. He managed to grab one as it was falling midair and all you could hear was a loud CRUNCH! Lydia cringed a little but continued combing through his greasy hair. Once finished, she tied it back and he looked great; very sophisticated. No one would recognize him now! She placed the hat back on, "Freaktastic…"

"Okay…for wardrobe…" Lydia spoke again but Beetlejuice piped up, raising and waving his hand as if he were in a classroom.

"Ooooh! Let me! Pleeeeease?" He begged.

"Okaaay…" Lydia smiled and gestured towards the trunk and not even a second after, he dove past her and into the chest, rummaging.

"I want this one…No, this one…Yuck! Who would wear that? Hmm…maybe this one…" Lydia heard him say, a little muffled under all the clothes. "Aha!" Beetlejuice yelled as he popped out, scaring her a little. "This one! Can I wear this one?" He was holding up a dark green vest that had gold trim and curly designs on the fabric, "It reminds me of my armpit hair…" he continued with admiration. "Plus, the green reminds me of vomit…"

Lydia put a hand to her face " _I'm_ gonna remind you of vomit, in a second…"

He changed into a trashcan and appeared in front of her, smiling, "Don't hold back, now!"

Lydia threw her hands and yelled, "Oh, Beetlejuice!"

He laughed as he changed back but now wearing the vest, "Heheheh, sometime I 'can' be so 'trashy'"

His puns just made her laugh and she had to admit, he did look good in the vest _despite_ his reasons for choosing it. She glanced at the trunk again, looking for a jacket. He couldn't wear his tattered old one. As she was looking, one just caught her eye. "Oh, this is so you!" She exclaimed as she pulled it out.

"Whoa!" Beetlejuice smiled wide, "Now, _that's_ something I could really get into!"

In a flash of light, he was now wearing the coat she'd suggested. It had black and white stripes, just like his pants and had long coat tails that reached his feet. With that, Lydia closed the trunk and he sat on it, looking in the mirror once again with a smirk on his face.

"Sharp!" Lydia said as she dusted off his shoulders.

"You bet I am!" Beetlejuice commented, turning his head into a nail and she giggled.

Just then, being so close to Beetlejuice, she was able to smell him. Ugh! What a horrible smell! It smelled like he hadn't bathed in decades. She plugged her nose and began to speak with a nasally voice, "Uh, Beetlejuice…?"

"Yeah, Babes…?" Beetlejuice asked, still smiling in the mirror as he messed with the brim of his hat.

"When's the last time you had a bath…?" She asked with half-closed eyes, still plugging her nose.

"Yeeeeuck! That musta been…" He looked upward, trying to remember the date, "Oh…I dunno….500 years ago…give or take…"

Lydia's eyes widened and she blinked a couple times. How could one go so long without bathing? But then she remembered something. He had been in jail this whole time. Poor Beetlejuice, she thought. They probably didn't let him bathe. She shouldn't judge him so harshly. Instead, she decided she should help him.

Lydia smiled and said, "Uh…I'll be right back…"

Beetlejuice merely acknowledged her. He was far too busy examining himself in his new outfit to notice anything else.

-

Lydia left the attic and went back down the hallway. She opened he parents' bedroom door. Thankfully, they were still asleep. She closed it quietly and then went another door up; the bathroom. She walked inside, glancing at the mirror slightly as she passed it. Lydia knelt by the tub and turned on the faucet. She felt the water's temperature as it poured down; making sure it wasn't too hot or too cold. Once the tub was filled, she turned it off. She stood up and left the bathroom. Lydia went back down the hall and climbed the stairs.

She tried to whisper but still let him hear her, "Hey, Beej! Get down here!"'

After a few seconds, he came down. Well, floated down really. He smiled at her, "What's up? Haha, besides me, I mean…" He land on the floor and put his hands on his sides.

"I have a special surprise for you! Something I think will make you feel a lot better" Lydia told him and then walked off in the other direction

"Another one?" Beetlejuice asked excited, "Gee, I don't know what to say…" He followed her as she opened a door for him and she followed close behind, closing the door.

Beetlejuice looked around, "Uh…" He looked back at her with confusion. "This looks like a bathroom, hehe…"

"Uh-huh…" She nodded.

Beetlejuice tugged on his collar and then scratched his head. Then he smiled and glanced at the toilet, "Oh! Did someone forget to flush…?"

Lydia got an unimpressed look on her face, "No, Beetlejuice…" She regained her usual expression after a moment or two and waved towards the tub, "It's this tub! I figured you would feel a lot better from all those years in prison after you take a bath!"

His eyes almost exploded, "WHAAAAT?"

"You heard me! Now come on," Lydia encouraged.

"Uhhh…no thanks, Babes…Maybe some other time…" He laughed nervously, "You see, baths aren't really my thing…You know how some people don't like dogs? Well. I don't like baths! …Dogs, either for that matter, actually…"

"That's hardly the same thing…" Lydia replied.

Beetlejuice slowly turned around with a nervous look and put his hand on the doorknob, "So, uh, I'll just be seeing—" Before he could finish, he felt Lydia grab him violently, "WAH!"

"Get in there, now! The water'll be cold soon!" She said.

"No! No! I don't wanna!" Beetlejuice protested.

"But…errr" she tugged on him more; trying to pull him near the water, "This is for your own…GOOD!"

"What about my own 'bad'? Can't we promote that instead!" He complained.

"That's just the prison talking. Once you're clean…you will remember what it was like to bathe…_before_ prison!" Lydia persuaded.

"What?" Beetlejuice stopped, "But I never bathed before prison either!"

"You said you hadn't bathed for 500 years!" Lydia reminded.

"I was only in the slammer for 100 years!" He explained.

"Oh..But—EEEEYAH!" Lydia shrieked as the two of them slipped and landed inside the tub with a giant splash.

Beetlejuice came up for air with another splash, "Aaaaah!" He freaked, "Cleeeeeeean water! It buuuuurns!" All of a sudden, his head caught on fire and he screamed again before dunking his head to put it out.

He came up again and both he and Lydia were sitting in the tub side by side. She looked a tad dizzy and her eyes were half closed, "You..uh, really don't like baths, do you…?"

Dizzy as well, Beetlejuice barely shook his head and said "…Uh-uh…"

"Mmkay…" Lydia said, blankly staring forward, "..I'll remember that…"

-

And so that is Chapter 4. Hope that managed to amuse ya. XD Just the idea of that bath scene makes me giggle. I sorta want that drawn. Anywho, more soon! Hope you guys liked this.


	5. Chapter 5

**Un Coléoptère Dans La Neitherworld**

Yay! Chapter 5! Can't believe we're here already! Well, I'm liking this so far so I'm gonna keep it up! This is the first chapter fic I intend to finish XD Enjoy!

It had been a while and they finally decided to get some sleep. Tomorrow would be a big day for the both of them. Tomorrow was when Lydia was going shooting; Photos, that is. She also wanted to try Beetlejuice on the town. She hoped her disguise for him would be enough to fool everyone into thinking he was actually from The Living Colony. Lydia was confident, though. She would pass him off as Mr. Beetleman, her photography assistant. But for now, they needed to sleep. He liked the attic so much; she let him stay up there. Besides, it was a good place to hide him. Her parents never went up there anyways.

Lydia yawned as she got ready for bed, "I'm sure everything will be okay…" She crawled into bed and snuggled up to her pillow. She smiled, "Life's about to get pretty interesting…"

The next day quickly approached. The sun was up and Lydia almost didn't want to greet it. She curled up and hid her head under the covers and slept for a few more minutes. After that, she decided she would get up. Lydia lifted the covers and sat up, revealing her half-awake face and messy hair. She hopped out of bed and stretched with a long yawn. Lydia was so tired that she had wondered if the happenings of last night were just a dream. She had been listening to scary stories on her radio. Could that have influenced her dream? She had to know!

She zoomed out of her room and down the hall. The house felt empty. She wasn't sure if her parents were out or still asleep. Lydia looked around and the coast was clear so she ran to the back of the hallway. She hopped and yanked the string that revealed the staircase to the attic. Lydia climbed until she reached the top. She poked her head in and glanced around before actually entering the attic. The light was off so it was pretty dark and spooky; not that she minded. Once inside, she walked around and found a light switch. She flipped it with a smile but once she looked around, that smile faded.

"Oh…" She said softly, a little sad.

No one was here. So, it _had _ just been a dream…She sighed with her head down and turned around, only for something to pop in front of her in a flash of smoke. She shrieked and fell back on her bottom.

The figure tilted his head, "Anyone ever tell you, you have a really beautiful scream?"

Lydia blinked her eyes, "Beetlejuice?"

And indeed it was! She hadn't dreamed him up after all. He helped her up and said "The one and only!" before changing into a literal number one.

She dusted herself off and he noticed her looks. "Wow! You look great in the morning!"

Lydia frantically used her hands to pat down her hair, "What are you talking about? I look terrible…"

Beetlejuice raised an eyebrow, "Like that's a _bad_ thing…?"

Lydia had to laugh, she kind of appreciated the compliment. She then leaned back and folded her arms. "I knew you were too weird to dream up…"

He looked at her with amusement and confusion.

"I woke up and thought I just imagined you…" She explained.

"Well, I am sort of a character…" He laughed and juiced up an umbrella, "A shady character…"

Lydia laughed again. "Pretty life-like for a dead guy, aren't you?"

He just gave her a cheesy smile and she replied, "So, are you hungry?"

"Bah…" He threw a hand, "Don't worry 'bout me, Babes.." Just then his hand changed into a fly swatter and he smashed a nearby bug crawling by. He scraped it off the floor and lifted it to his face, "I think I'm covered!" All of a sudden, a giant blanket fell from the sky and he fell down with a yell.

She lifted it slightly to see his face, "You can say that again!"

"…I'd rather not" Beetlejuice replied.

Lydia just shook her head in amusement. She walked towards the exit. Glancing back, she said jokingly, "Well, I'm off to get some breakfast…that isn't crawling on the floor!" With that, she left to go downstairs.

So, Lydia had her breakfast and got changed back into her dress. She sat in front of a mirror and brushed her hair before putting it back up in a bun. She patted both sides of her head with a relieved sigh, "That's _much_ better!" She stared closer into the mirror, looking relaxed when suddenly she had disgusting warts all over her face and bloodshot eyes. She jumped back with a slight gasp but then she caught on, "…Beetlejuice!"

The mirror's vision faded. His laugh echoed before he showed up in her mirror, "What gave me away, Babes…?"

She folded her arms and smirked, "Who else could come up with something _that_ gross?"

"Gosh.." Beetlejuice said, "You really know how to make a guy blush…" With that he turned into the actual makeup compact.

"Heeheehee…" Lydia giggled and then looked at him, "Now, stop messing around. I'm trying to get ready."

He leaned halfway out of the mirror and folded his arms and resting a cheek on a hand, "For what, Lyds? Got a hot date…?" Just then, he caught on fire and screamed.

Lydia screamed a little but quickly found a nearby vase and dumped the water from it on him to put him out.

"Whoa…" Beetlejuice said, now covered with scorch marks, "Hope this doesn't mean I'm fired…"

Lydia shook her head and raised her hands, "You have got to be more careful!"

Beetlejuice closed his eyes and pointed to himself, "I'm always careful!"

Lydia looked to the side and replied sarcastically, "I'm sure…" She walked over the side of her bed and slipped her shoes on. She started to answer his previous question, "I'm going out shooting today…" Before He could even respond, she said, "…Photos, Beetlejuice…" Lydia grabbed her camera from off her desk.

"Oh, I see…Well, hope ya have fun—" Beetlejuice replied, seeming like he was trying to get out of it.

Lydia yanked on his tie, as she saw him trying to go back into the mirror, "Just where do you think you're going…?"

He choked a little, "Ack…crazy?"

"You promised you would help me take some photos for the Photography Show!" Lydia reminded.

Beetlejuice laughed, "Did I say that…?"

"Yes!" She yelled, pulling him out of the mirror and he landed on floor in a sitting position. "Unless, you want me to turn you in…right now…"

Beetlejuice turned his head far to the right, still looking at her, "You know, you can be downright scary when you wanna be…But Lyds! If I go out there, I'll basically be turning _myself _in!"

Lydia looked to the side and saw the mask she had picked out for him sitting on her desk. She walked over to it and picked the mask up. She placed it on his face and then fixed his hair again, "Not with this disguise! You gotta trust me! It's gonna work!"

"Are you sure?" He asked, putting the white hat back on his head

She gave him a cheesy, assuring smile while thinking 'I sure hope so…' She couldn't blame him. Even Lydia, herself, was a little doubtful. She hoped everyone just wouldn't notice him. But then again, Beetlejuice is Beetlejuice. Who _wouldn't_ notice that personality? Well, there was one way to find out!

Lydia walked over to her door and opened it. She looked back at her new friend and gestured for him to follow, "Well, It's now or never"

"…Never sounds promising…" Beetlejuice mumbled with his hands in his pockets. He followed anyway. He hoped he wasn't making a terrible mistake trusting this girl. For all he knew, she could be leading him straight to the police.

Still, he followed, hoping for the best. It wasn't like he had a choice. Lydia looked back at him and could tell he was worried.

'I guess he has every right to be…' Lydia thought, 'But I'm gonna do my best to protect him…'

They reached the main street, loaded with people, restaurants and different kinds of shops. It made him a little nervous and excited at the same time but as they continued walking, there was no suspicion. Lydia's heartbeat calmed down noticing this. She was worried, herself, but seeing everyone else's reactions, her worries subsided.

She elbowed her friend and whispered, "See? I told you there was nothing to be worried about!"

"Well, that's a horse of a different color…" All of a sudden, a rainbow colored horse walked by. He scratched his head and shrugged, "Okay, maybe one too many colors!"

"Oh, Beetlejuice…" Lydia laughed

Beetlejuice instantly covered her mouth and her eyes widened, blinking a few times, "Watch it on the name, Babes! You'll blow my cover!" Suddenly a book appeared in Lydia's hands that read 'Mr. Beetleman'

He removed his hand and she smiled, "My apologies, _Mr. Beetleman_ " She then lowered her voice. She covered one side of her mouth with a hand, "Might I also remind _you_ to lay off the puns while there are people around…"

He threw his hands up, "I can't help it! They just come to me naturally!"

Lydia just shook her head and began to walk forward. Just then, someone passing by violently bumped her shoulder and she tumbled backward, into Beetlejuice. He glared at the girl.

Lydia glared a little, "Well, that was a little rude…"

After hearing that, the blonde girl turned around. "Oh, my! Is that, like, Miss Deetz?" She walked up to Lydia who was brushing herself off.

"Hello, Clare…" Lydia said, a little bit above a mumble.

Clare was about Lydia's height but had to be the complete opposite of her. She had big, poofy blonde hair that had a frilly bow on one side. Her skin was very tan and she had blue eyes with pink eye shadow. Her outfit consisted of a fashionable, hot pink dress with a satin bow on one side, with the tails drooping to her feet. Around her neck and wrist were a sparkly necklace and matching bracelet.

Clare looked at her with a smirk then looked up at Beetlejuice and cringed, "Like, ewww, who is that?"

Lydia just wanted to slap Clare sometimes, even though she knew it wasn't right. But she knew the best thing to do was just ignore her insults and try her best to get along with her.

"Clare, this is my friend, Beetle-uh, Mr. Beetleman…" Lydia said, waving towards Beetlejuice, "Mr. Beetleman, this is Clare. I go to school with her."

A plain look of hate was just on his face. But for Lydia's sake, he allowed a slight wave and said "Hi. How ya doin…"

"He's my photography assistant!" Lydia added.

Clare rolled her eyes, "Like, you are still on that? Haven't you, like, realized yet that you have no talent? Especially, when you're going up against me?"

"Against you? What are you talking about?" Lydia asked, confused.

Clare closed her eyes and snapped her fingers with a smirk, "Boys!"

In a flash, three fancy looking men showed up. They all had really expensive looking cameras. This had Lydia glancing down at her own camera, which was nothing special. She looked back up and gave Clare a questioning look.

"Daddy hired these guys to do all the work for me. So, I can spend the time doing important things…Like, shopping, getting pedicures and well, looking in the mirror! I have a busy schedule, you know!"

Lydia looked appalled, "Clare! That's cheating! Besides, how can you feel good about entering pictures you know you didn't take yourself?"

"Like, who cares? It's just a lame contest…" Clare replied, fixing her hair.

"Well, if it's so 'lame', then why are you entering?" Lydia was curious.

Clare smirked and got up in her face, "I don't really care about winning that contest. I just, like, wanna make sure _you_ don't win, Lydia…"

Lydia was taken aback, looking at Clare with such a shocked face. How could she be so mean? What had Lydia ever done to her to deserve this? Beetlejuice looked at Lydia and got angry. He hated how Clare had been treating her. Lydia seemed like a relatively good person. I mean, she took in and offered to hide a criminal! But, This Clare...He barely heard her talk for five minutes and he already hated her. A Grinch-like smile appeared on his face at this thought. He hated her...And what did he do to people he hated? It could be summed up into two words, I think; Iiiit's Showtime…

So much more was gonna be in this chapter but all the ideas I have would have made it too long and I'm trying to keep the lengths consistent. But atleast we're getting somewhere! X333 Happy face! More soon! *goes off to write more*


	6. Chapter 6

**Un Coléoptère Dans La Neitherworld**

Chapter 6, already? XD Yaaaay! I appreciate all the love I am getting for this fic. Thank you, everyone. I enjoy all the comments I get on each chapter 8D Really motivates me. And if anyone wants to draw my versions of characters in this fic, feel free! I would looove gift art *shot* Right, right, onward to the writing…

-

Beetlejuice wasn't gonna take someone being mean to his new (not to mention, only) friend sitting down. In fact, he was standing up and ready to juice the crap out of this brat. He took a step back, almost sneakily as her and Lydia continued to talk. Clare paused a moment to take a gander in her mirror. She fluffed her hair for a second and that's when Beetlejuice took his chance. He glanced from side to side, making sure no one was watching and sure enough, everyone was too busy to even notice a thing he was doing. That got him around Lydia's warning of sticking out in the crowd.

'Loopholes, you know I love 'em!' Beetlejuice thought to himself.

Not a second after, Beetlejuice shot her mirror and now instead of her cute, young face, Clare saw a hideous monster wearing a blonde wig. She jumped and shrieked, almost wanting to puke, "YeeeeeeeUCK! Like, that's not me, is it?"

Lydia was confused by her behavior. She glanced beside her and didn't see Beetlejuice. Where could he have gone? She was about to go looking for him when she heard another loud scream from Clare. She jerked her head back to look at her and instantly covered her mouth in shock of what she saw. Clare's blonde hair changed into wiggly, green snakes. Just then, she heard loud, obnoxious laughter. She glanced behind her and saw Beetlejuice, bent over, slapping his knees as he laughed at Clare's current state.

"Hahah! I can't help but 'snaker' at her!" Beetlejuice joked as he continued to laugh.

Lydia freaked and grabbed Beetlejuice's hand, pulling him up and began to run off with him. As she passed Clare, she yelled, "Sorry, Clare but we gotta go!" and the she scolded Beetlejuice in a whisper, "Change her back!"

"Why…? She looks better that way!" He joked.

"Beetlejuice!" Lydia glared.

"Okay…Okay…" He snapped and did as she asked.

-

They were far enough from the scene so they stopped running and caught their breath on the other side of town. They leaned on the wall of a building.

Lydia breathed a sigh of relief and her eyes drooped, "That was a little too close for comfort…"

"Well, I sure had fun!" He giggled with arms folded, "This town is a barrel o' laughs!" A barrel appeared in front of him and he lifted the lid and loud laughter could be heard coming from it.

Lydia snatched the lid and slammed it shut. "It's not funny, Beej! That was a really mean thing to do."

"When did I ever claim to be nice…?" He asked with a shrug but kind of didn't want her to answer so he continued in defense, "What do you want from me, Babes? Sheee was the one asking for it!" He cracked his knuckles, "Next time she talks to ya like that, I'll do much worse than that! You hear me?" He yelled, looking to the sky, as if Clare could hear his warning.

Lydia expression softened. He didn't do it just because pranking was in his nature. Beetlejuice juiced Clare because she was being mean to her. Wow…She didn't know what to say. That was an unusually nice thing to do; sweet, even. But she wouldn't tell _him_ that.

His back was still turned. Lydia smiled and then looked up at him, "Thanks, Beetlejuice…"

Beetlejuice relaxed and his eyes widened slightly. He turned around and looked at her, "Huh?"

She repeated herself, "I said 'Thank you'…"

He just blinked at her and began to feel a little weird inside. He placed a hand on top of his hat and looked to the side, "Uh…You're welcome…I guess"

She giggled to herself. Looking back at it, it really was kind of funny. Beetlejuice and her began walking again. Lydia turned him, "Anyway, please try to tone down the magic. I don't want anyone to find out about you. The disguise can only do so much…"

"Trust me, Babes! I got it under control." Beetlejuice replied with closed eyes, walking a little ahead of her. All of a sudden, a door flew open smashing him behind it.

Lydia gasped. That _had_ to hurt! She then looked up and saw who had opened the door. It was her parents!

"Mother! Father!" She exclaimed. "W-what a surprise!"

"We could say the same!" Her mother, Delia replied.

"Yeah, "Her father added, "What're you doing out here alone, Pumpkin…?"

"Oh…" Lydia held up her camera, "I'm out taking photos for that Photography show and I'm not alone…You kinda crushed my assistant" She laughed nervously, pointing a thumb at the door.

They turned to the door and heard a rough groan. They quickly opened the door and Beetlejuice fell to the ground saying, "…That'll crush your ego"

Lydia gave a cheesy smile and laugh as she helped him up, still looking at her parents, "Uhhh…Mr. Beetleman, this is my parents…"

Beetlejuice shook his head and regained his composure, standing up straight. He jumped in front of them, shaking both of their hands vigorously. "Hi! How ya doing? Beetleman's the name! Photography specialist. Actually, I'm a man of many talents…Most of them gross, but hey, what d'ya want? Pfft!" He laughed.

Lydia grinned, "He's such a character…"

"I agree!" Delia exclaimed, putting her hands together, "So, Mr. Beetleman, how long have you been assisting our daughter here?"

"Just today!" Lydia jumped in, "I met him recently and he offered to help me find some really freaktastic things to shoot" She was trying her hardest not to lie. She hated lying, especially to her parents.

"Yeah" Beetlejuice rubbed his fingers on his jacket, "I'm kind of a pro…"

"Oh, that's lovely! It's always nice meeting new people!" Delia said, "I'll tell you what, Mr. Beetleman, how about you come to dinner tonight?"

Lydia's eyes widened and she jumped in the middle of them, "Uh, no, no, no. You don't have to do that…I'm sure he has other plans…"

Beetlejuice _couldn't_ come to dinner! He was a great guy and she was definitely liking him a lot more with each passing moment but he was a ghost. He was a dead guy from the Central Neitherworld. She was afraid he would totally give himself away and end up pranking her parents. And with all her observations of him so far, that was very likely to happen.

"Nonsense!" Delia shook her head and smiled, "I insist!"

"Why not?" Beetlejuice shrugged, "I'm staying there anyway…"

Delia looked at him with confusion, "Wha?"

That's when Lydia elbowed him hard and he corrected himself, "Uh I-I mean, I'd love to! Sure!"

Lydia's face fell and she heaved a huge sigh. If her family found out about him, he'd be a goner for sure. She glared at Beetlejuice.

Her mother closed her eyes and gave a big smile as she linked arms with her husband. She waved and began to walk off, "Then, it's settled! See you at dinner, dears! Don't be laaaate"

Lydia gave a cheesy, false optimistic grin as they left. Once they were far enough away, Lydia instantly turned to Beetlejuice and smacked him.

"OW!" He yelled and rubbed his arm, one eye squinted "What was _that_ for?"

"Why did you say yes?" Lydia inquired.

"What'd you want me to say?" He answered.

" 'No' would have been nice!" She said.

"Hey, they asked nicely. Besides, they look like loads of fun!" With that statement, Beetlejuice looked very mischievous with a laugh, rubbing his hands together.

Lydia wagged a finger at him, "I'm warning you, Beetlejuice! Leave my parents alone…"

Beetlejuice jumped to the defense, "WHAAAT? I haven't even done anything yet!"

She folded her arms and said, "It's the 'yet' that worries me…"

"Baaabes…" He pleaded, "Cut me a break!"

Instantly, a saw appeared in her hand and a bicycle brake was floating in front of her. She threw her head back with a sigh.

"Alright Beej…" She looked at him, "Just promise me you'll behave…"

He smiled, "You have my word!"

Cinderblock letters that read 'Beetlejuice's Word' appeared in Lydia's hands and she giggled. He juiced it away and then raised an arm.

"So, come on! Those photos aren't gonna take themselves you know!"

Lydia laughed and agreed. She held up her camera as he began to walk off. "Hold up, BJ!"

He stopped and looked back with confusion, "Hold up what?"

She laughed again, "That pose!" Lydia lifted her camera and snapped a photo of him. She lowered her camera, "That's a keeper!"

He felt flattered and then made a few more poses, "How about this?" "Or this!" "What about this?" He took off his head and was doing a handstand.

"Deadly Vu!" She snapped it and then he stood up, normal again. She grabbed his arm, "Now let's go somewhere with less people…"

"Way ahead o' ya, Babes!" Beetlejuice smirked; snapping his fingers and what looked like a yellow Vespa appeared in front of them. It had two headlights and a skull ornament in the center. "I call it My 'Vespa of Doom'"

Lydia laughed, "We should call it Doomie!"

"Good thinkin', Babes!" Beetlejuice said, sitting on the seat. "How ya like that, Doom-a-roo?" The Vespa beeped twice in agreement, "Guess that's a yes!" He laughed, patting the seat behind him; gesturing for Lydia to get on.

She was unsure for a second, biting her finger a little but then shrugged and ran over to him. Lydia jumped behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, making herself comfortable in the seat.

He smirked as he geared up the handle bars, "Alright, Lyds! Hold on tight! This thing can really fly!"

She held tighter. The word fly just made her nervous. After a second or two, there was a loud VRRRROOOOM! Then, the Vespa, Doomie took off at an insanely fast speed; so fast that Lydia flew out of her seat, barely hanging onto Beetlejuice's shoulders. She screamed and he tried slowing down. Lydia was able to sit back in her seat and she let out a sigh of relief.

"You weren't kidding when you said this thing could fly!"

He narrowed an eyebrow, "That's not flying!...Now, _this_ is flying!" He turned the key and Doomie began to float as he continued to ride.

Lydia looked at the ground and gasped. "Beetlejuice!" She clutched his jacket.

He lifted a hand and let out a laugh, "Relax, Babes! This part of town looks deserted.." Beetlejuice looked around and smiled, "Pretty gloomy, too!"

Lydia allowed herself to look around as well, "You know, you're right…Let's stop here.."

He nodded and Doomie lowered to the ground. She hopped off and began looking around. She took a few shots, some with Beetlejuice in them. Not that she minded, he was fun to photograph. All of a sudden, the unthinkable happened. Her camera started to fall apart and the film just spat out.

Lydia gasped, "Oh, no!" Her face saddened.

Beetlejuice, who had been in another area, rushed over to her with slight concern, "What is it, Babes?"

Lydia rose up her now broken camera, "It's my camera. It's ruined! All my photos…How am I supposed to take photos for the Photo Show with a busted camera?" She let out a depressed sigh. "I guess I shoulda known better. This thing is pretty old…"

Beetlejuice examined the camera and then his friend. He looked sad for a second but then got an idea. He raised a finger and gave an open mouthed smile. Beetlejuice viewed at his friend. He snapped his fingers and a red blindfold with skulls in the pattern covered her eyes.

She screamed a little, "Ah, Beetlejuice!" Lydia waved her arms slightly, "What's the big idea?"

"It's a big idea alright! But, I can't tell ya!" Beetlejuice replied, picking her up.

She was so confused what was going on. Lydia felt him place her down on a seat. Feeling around, she recognized the material; she was on Doomie. Lydia felt Beetlejuice sit in front of her.

"Will you tell me what's going on?" She asked.

"I can't! It's a surprise! Just trust me! You can give me that, can't ya, Babes?" Beetlejuice pleaded.

Lydia lifted a hand, "Well, I guess so…"

"Greeeat!" He shouted with enthusiasm, "Now, hang on tight!"

She did as he said, "Something smells fishy about this…"

Beetlejuice lifted an arm and smelled himself. He tilted his head and looked at Lydia with a slight blush, "Sorry, Babes! That's just me…hehehehe…"

Lydia giggled, "Just go, BJ…I can't wait till we get there!"

"Too bad you'll have to!" He joked as he turned the handlebars and started up Doomie again.

Lydia had no idea where they were going but she knew it was somewhere Beetlejuice seemed to be familiar with. She had realized by now that Beetlejuice was anything but predictable. However, she also knew he was a ghoul that knew how to have fun and Lydia was just glad to be along for the ride; pun intended

-

Woo! Fast updates are fast. Hope this pleases you gaiz. Btw, Doomie as a Vespa would be teh freaking WIN 3 I totally need to draw that now cuz it sounds cute! More soon! Hope I am not too lame XD I am not the best writer in the world. 333 Luv youz


	7. Chapter 7

**Un Coléoptère Dans La Neitherworld**

Chapter 7 is here! Woo! This has been so much fun for me so far X3 Even if I'm not the best at it, writing is fun for me. Especially Beetlejuice fanfics. I have missed them muchly x3 Enjoy! This one should be good 8D

-

They had been travelling for a good twenty minutes. Lydia never how relaxing a ride could be with her eyes closed. It was so calming. She oddly was finding Beetlejuice so comfortable. She snuggled her face into his back. He felt it and glanced back for a moment. It was nice but he began feeling weird again. He shook his head and focused on getting to the location once more.

"Are we almost there..?" She asked.

He jumped a little, "Uh…Y-yeah!"

Doomie made a VROOM sound but Beetlejuice finally wanted to stop so he tried slowing down the speed. Beetlejuice slammed on the brake and the Vespa had been moving so fast that the sudden stop dug it into the ground. Beetlejuice looked up and noticed he was halfway in a hole in the ground.

He looked annoyed, "So much for stopping on a dime!" He jumped off and saw something shiny in the corner of his eye, "Huh?" The ghost kneeled and glanced at the front tire. His eyes widened as he picked up the time. It was a dime. "Well, what do ya know?" He looked at the sky, "Not what I meant though…" Beetlejuice sighed and pushed Doomie out of the hole and onto the normal road again.

He looked at his surroundings and smiled. Just then, he heard an "Ahem!" Beetlejuice quickly turned around.

"Uh, Beetlejuice…Can I _please_ take this blindfold off now?" Lydia spoke

"Oh!...Right, right!" He said, lifting her off of Doomie. Once on solid ground, he untied the blindfold and it fell to the ground.

Lydia had her eyes closed for a moment and then she shot them open. She took a step back and gaped at what she saw. Beetlejuice raised an arm at the site.

He smirked, "Welcome to the Central Neitherworld!"

Lydia gasped and held up her hands, "You didn't…!"

"Oh, but I did!" He laughed with his eyes closed. By the time he opened them, he realized she was gone, "Ah! Hey, where'd ya go?" He began looking and every direction and spotted her running off into town. He squeaked and ran after her, flailing his arms, "Lyds!"

He finally caught up to her and grabbed her arm, "Hold your horses!" He warned, changing into a black and white horse with her on top, holding his reins. "You just can't run off into The Central Neitherworld…"

Lydia understood his point, "You're right, Beej…" She turned to look at the town, "Oh, but look at this place!"

He changed back to normal and they were standing side by side. "Allow me to be your tour guide!" He turned into a paper brochure and appeared in her hands.

She giggled and he changed back to normal and put his arm around her, leading her into town. Lydia smiled; looking left and right every chance she got. Everything was just so new, so weird, and so creepy. She felt so at home here! Everything the Central Neitherworld had to offer was everything she was into. She stayed in tune with all the strange facts Beetlejuice would randomly say about the place. Lydia couldn't help but smile and look at him with admiration. Did he have any idea he was making her dreams come true?

Lydia breathed a happy sigh, "So, this is the Central Neitherworld!" She gazed around with her hands on her hips, "Picture that!" She paused and her arms fell as if they lost all feeling, "Picture…that…" She became a bit sad.

He looked back and noticed her, "Hey! What's up!" He hung upside down in front of her with a confused expression, "I figured you'd be _beyond_ excited!"

Lydia jerked up and waved her arms, "Oh! Sorry! I am, believe me, I am!" She looked up with a smile, "This place is better than I ever imagined! It's just…" She folded her hands, "Well, there are so many freaktastic things here and I can't photograph any of it."

"That _is_ kind of depressing, huh?" Beetlejuice said, deflating like a beach ball onto the ground. He thought for a second and a light bulb appeared above his head. He inflated back to his normal self and raised a hand, "Babes!" He took a large breath and then quietly said, "Back in a flash!" In a camera-like flash he was gone and in another flash two seconds later, he was back.

Lydia blinked, "Wow! That really was a flash!"

Beetlejuice threw a hand, "Nah, Babes. That'd just be inappropriate! Pfft!"

Lydia shook her head and then looked back at him, "About my camera…Listen! I don't want you to feel bad…I mean, just being here is enough… I don't need to take any photos!" She gave him a smile. She didn't want him think that she didn't appreciate him bringing her here; especially considering he didn't have to. He was supposed to be hiding, after all.

"Hmm…" Beetlejuice mimed leaning back on a wall and crossed his legs, "You know, that's too bad…Cause I just found this layin' around…" He tossed a box in her direction.

Lydia fumbled with it for a second before finally catching it. She looked up at him, "What's this?" the girl just saw him nod towards the box. She blinked and then lifted the opening. Lydia gasped, "You bought me a camera?"

Beetlejuice hopped out of place and laughed nervously, "Bought?" He coughed and then kicked the dirt slightly as he checked his nails calmly, "Bought!...Yeah! That's what I did…Yup…hehehe"

He was about to walk away from this awkward situation when he felt two arms wrap around him and a face cuddle him slightly. He looked down; it was Lydia. "…Whoa…Whatcha doin' there, Babes?"

Lydia giggled and explained, "It's called a hug…"

This was a hug…Wow..The concept seemed so foreign to him. He was used to being squeezed on a normal basis but not in such a gentle manner. It was actually kind of nice. He hesitated at first but hugged her back.

When they finally separated, Beetlejuice scratched the side of his head, "Uh…so what was it for…?"

"For getting me such a great camera", Lydia told him as she admired the device. She paused a moment, "No…More than that!" She looked up, "For bringing me here and being the best friend a girl could ask for!"

Beetlejuice folded his hands behind his back, "Aww, shucks!" He looked to the side.  
>"You really make life interesting!" She added.<p>

A smirk came to his face and he snaked an arm around her, "You think _life_ is interesting? Wait till ya see just how interesting the _after_life can be!"

She gave a huge smile with hands clasped, "Oh boy!" Lydia connected the strap to her camera and slid it around her neck, "Let's go!"

Lydia stole his arm and began pulling him along really fast before he even got a second to react. She began laughing happily and taking photos of almost everything in sight. She got a lot of good shots. She even retook some of Beetlejuice, which he loved. He gave so many different poses and was so into it.

"Haha, okay, Beetlejuice! I think that's enough for now! I might run out of film…" She said.

"…or my face might break the camera…" He joked.

Lydia let her camera hang around her neck once more and looked around at different shops. They stopped by one that looked like a clothing store. She glanced up and said "What a freaky boutique!" She turned and looked at Beetlejuice, "Can we go in?"

"I don't see why we can't!" He joked and all of a sudden they were inside a large vegetable can.

Lydia laughed and jumped out of it. She walked into the store and he followed, humming his usual tune.

-

Lydia gazed all around the store. It was a spooky fashion wonderland! Lydia went over to a rack and began looking at all the different clothing. Lydia tossed him her camera. He didn't expect it so he almost dropped it.

"I want to try a few things on!" She explained.

"Sure thing, Babes!" Beetlejuice said. His face then fell as he stared up at the large pile she was holding, "That's…quite a few things….!"

She laughed and ran into the dressing room. Beetlejuice slapped his forehead with an annoyed look. They were going to be here a while.

'Well, at least she's happy!' He thought. He paused, '…I mean, if I cared about that sorta thing…' Even in his head, Beetlejuice was on the defense. He wasn't used to caring about anyone but himself. So, Lydia made him feel strange. Was this what it was like to care about someone? To call someone friend?

Lydia stepped out of the dressing room in the first outfit. Beetlejuice jumped back in response. She looked like she was wearing a large green rectangle box.

"Somehow, I don't think this is me…" Lydia said.

Beetlejuice couldn't help but laugh at the strange outfit. "You're right! Must be me!"

Suddenly, she looked down and her outfit had both his eyes and mouth, laughing. She laughed too and then he changed back to normal. He let her go back in the room.

She went through quite a few outfits, some even hideous to Beetlejuice! But there were quite a few that he thought she looked amazing in. One seemed to be a Bride of Frankenstein get up, complete with hair that had two pink streaks going from top to bottom. Another was a long black dress that went way past her foot on one side with the other leg exposed from the calf down. Around the center was a purple spider web sash and on her forearms; black arm warmers. In her hair, there was a skull and crossbones hair clip. He began taking photos of her in all these amazing outfits and she posed for him, finding so much amusement in this. The next outfit was a blue, sleeveless shirt with a black, shaggy skirt and blue leggings. She had a silver studded belt with a skull buckle on the end and a dark blue spider web shawl on her shoulders. Black boots covered her feet and long black fingerless gloves.

Beetlejuice waited around for a while, urging Lydia to hurry up.

"Okay, BJ! One last one!" She said.

He folded his arms and looked to the side, "Alright..Alright…"

After a moment or two, she stepped out, head lowered a little. He stared at her and his crossed arms just fell, along with his mouth. He felt so entranced by her. She was so…beautiful. This outfit was a red dress with black spider webbing and tattered edges at the bottom. The sleeves were slightly belled so you could see the internal fabric was lavender. Underneath, she seemed to be wearing a full body black leotard covering all but her fingers.

She lifted her head and smiled at him. She opened her arms and twirled, "Well? What do you think?"

All of a sudden she saw a bunch of white words fall out of his mouth and run away from the area. He gestured towards them. "Words just escape me, Lyds!" He held up a piece of paper that said speech on top and that flew away too! "I'm speechless!"

Lydia lifted a hand to her mouth and laughed, "I hope that's a good thing!"

"Most definitely, Babes!" He ran over to her and place an arm around her, "I think…" He poked her with a finger slightly, "You should get that dress!"

"Really?" She asked in a happy tone.

"Really! It has 'you' written all over it!" He said and a bunch of lettering that said 'you' appeared all over her outfit.

Lydia blushed slightly. Beetlejuice really knew how to make a girl feel beautiful. She nodded and went to go change. She stepped out and paid the cashier, who was a teenage skeleton with black, shaggy hair and a red shirt and a yellow long sleeved undershirt. After she was done, she stared at Beetlejuice who was eyeing the cashier with suspicion.

She tilted her head, "What's wrong…?"

Beetlejuice pushed her out of the store, looking back slightly, "I don't think I should like that guy…"

-

Lydia swung her shopping bag slightly as they walked. Shopping had been fun but she had to get back to the task as hand; Photography. They were far away from town now, in an open area. She looked around the road. There was nothing else. She couldn't help but think of how long the fall would be if one fell off. She shuddered and tried to forget about it.

"You wanting to go back, Lyds?" Beetlejuice as he walked with her, hands in his pockets.

She wound her camera, "I wanna get one more picture first!"

Lydia looked around, trying to find something cool to take a picture of. She couldn't find anything. She was just about to give up when she found something and her jaw dropped, "That!" Lydia ran to the edge of the road.

Beetlejuice walked over to her, adjusting his hat. He placed a hand above his eyes, squinting to see what she saw. It was a floating island with one really big spooky tree. "Kinda far away…aint it?"

Lydia lifted her camera and not even her camera could zoom in enough. She let her camera hang and sighed, "Too far is more like it! Oh well!" Lydia shrugged, "Too bad, that woulda made a great entry!"

"Hmm…" Beetlejuice said with narrowed eyes and a hand under his chin. His eyes went from side to side; looking at Lydia and then the floating island. He turned and faced it.  
>When Lydia noticed he wasn't walking with her, she turned around and saw him facing with his back to her.<p>

Lydia walked up to him, "Beej…?"

"Get on my back…" She heard him say.

Lydia was confused, "Wha?"

She didn't get an answer so she shrugged and just did as he said. She lifted her arms to his shoulders and he bent down to accommodate her. He bounced her up so that he had a better grip on her. He didn't want her to fall. Confused at first, Lydia finally had an idea of what was going on. She panicked and began to struggle

"Oh! No, Beetlejuice…You really don't have to-AAAAAAH!" Lydia screamed as they took off, into the air

"Hang on, Lyds!" He yelled with a smile.

Lydia wrapped her arms around his neck and held for dear life. "Beetlejuice! What're you doing?"

"Flying! What's it look like?" He laughed.

"Put me down! Put me down!" She demanded.

Beetlejuice looked down beneath him, seeing nothing but sky. He looked at her slightly, "Uh, Babes…You might wanna rethink that…" He gestured his head downward

Lydia looked down and couldn't be more frightened. She squeezed harder and whined. It's a good thing Beetlejuice was already dead or she could have choked him to death.

Beetlejuice spoke again, "You want the shot, don'tcha?"

Lydia let go of fear for a second, "Well, yeah…."

"Then here we goooooooooooooo!" With that he picked up speed in flight, causing her to scream a little more.

They were finally close enough for her to get the shot. He looked back at her and saw her frazzled state, "Sorry, Lyds. Didn't mean to give you a panic attack…" With that, an iron pan fell from nowhere and banged him on the head before falling into nothingness. "Ow!" He shouted, rubbing his head.

"Th-That's okay…" Lydia said in a really shaky voice.

"So, get your picture!" He encouraged.

She nodded but she needed to be up higher. But instead of asking Beetlejuice to go up a little higher, she decided to climb up him. She sat wobbly with her knees on his shoulders. "A little mooore…" She straightened up a bit as she held her camera close to her face. Just as she was about to click the button, she fell forward, "Aah!"

Her eyes were tightened as she waited for the fall to continue; but it didn't. She had stopped. She opened one eye and noticed she was in Beetlejuice's arms.

"Watch it, Babes! Take another trip like that and I might not see ya next fall!"

She giggled nervously and looked up at him. Somehow, flying like this was a lot more comfortable. Staring at him, she made an observation. Beetlejuice was always pranking people and could be uncaring and mean sometimes to other people. But she was beginning to see the heart he was trying to hide. After all, he gave her this whole day just to make her happy. That meant a lot to her. Lydia knew Beetlejuice would hate her for this next thought but she couldn't help but think about how sweet he was…

He began to speak once more, "Go on! I gotcha!"

Lydia shook away her thoughts and tried sitting up a little. She lifted the camera and got her shot, the best picture in all the Neitherworld, she thought before smiling sweetly at Beetlejuice. All thanks to the best _person_ in the Neitherworld.

-

Woo! This one's a bit longer than the others but these are scenes that were in my head since before I even started writing this thing. The idea of Lydia posing for BJ in Neitherworld outfits is just too cute to resist and I always wondered about their first flight together. I'm sure Lydia would be frightened cuz Its not like she's ever been that high off the ground before. More soon! 8D

Btw, you get points for epicness if you get my comic reference XD


	8. Chapter 8

**Un Coléoptère Dans La Neitherworld**

Chapter 8 is here! Yaaaaay! I really hope you like it. It is finally getting somewhere x3 I never knew writing you favorite characters in an AU could be so fun XD Cuz I was never into AU's. So, thank you all who read and review and show you like what I do 8D

-

They landed on the island and Beetlejuice set her down on solid ground. Lydia stared at her camera excitedly.

"Oh, Beetlejuice! I can't wait to get these pictures home so I can work on them!" She said happily.

He smirked and folded his hands behind his head, just floating there with his legs crossed, "No better place to get freaky photos than the Central Neitherworld!"

"You said it!" Lydia agreed, walking around the spooky tree she had just taken a picture of. She stared up and saw a bird's nest with a mom and baby skeleton birds inside it. Lydia leaned against the tree and closed her eyes for a moment. All of a sudden, she could feel the tree vibrating. She opened her eyes with a "Huh?" She stood up straight and looked at the tree, placing a palm on it.

"Beetlejuice!" She called.

Beetlejuice floated over to her, "What?"

"This tree…It's moving!" Lydia explained.

Beetlejuice landed on his feet, "Moving, huh, Lyds?" He walked over to it with a large smile, "Oooh! Maybe it's got termites! Lemme have a looksee!" He pulled out his eyes like a telescope and stuck it in a hole in the tree, "'Eye' don't see anything in here…" Suddenly, the tree jumped and his eye slammed back into its socket and he fell on his backside. "Hmm…maybe you're not just jumping to conclusions!"

"What is it?" She asked.

Before he even had a chance to answer, the island began to shake slightly. After a minute or two, the shaking became more aggressive and faster. Lydia found it hard to keep her balance.

"Whooa..! Aaah..! Eeee…!" She screamed, "Whaaat's g-goiiing ooon…?"

Beetlejuice bit his fingernails and shook in fear, still sitting. His eyes then tightened and he folded his hands in prayer, "Please don't be that! Anything but that!"

Just then, BAM! A huge explosion in the center of the island, rubble flying everywhere.

Beetlejuice's eyes popped out of his head and his hat flew off "SANDWORM!"

His head spun around wildly and he had to stop it with his hands, looking a bit dizzy. He shook his head and that when he heard a loud scream. He turned and screamed again. The spooky tree began shaking off of its foundation

"Whoa! Looks like that trees got root rot!" He put his hand to each side of his face, "Lyds! Get out of there!"

But his warning was late; the tree was coming down too fast.

"Lyds!"

She screamed and her eyes tightened and that's when she felt two hands shove her out of the way. Lydia sat up and shook her head before opening her eyes slowly. Her eyes widened as she saw Beetlejuice under the tree, the only part of him visible was his head and arms. Lydia ran over to him.

"Beetlejuice!" She worried.

He looked up at her, eyes half open, "This really isn't 'flat'tering…" He tried pulling himself up, "Now, Flattening…that's another thing!"

Lydia gave him a look of concern, "Oh, BJ…" She grabbed both his arms and began to pull "Uhnnngh!...I'll get you outta there!" She kept pulling and pulling. She rested and wiped her forehead, "It's no use!"

"Babes…" He lifted a hand, "Don't pull a muscle…I'll get through this…" Just then, he phased through the tree and could stand up again. He laughed, "See what I mean?"

Lydia looked scared and was staring behind him, "Yeah! But will we get through _this_ ?"

She pointed behind him and he screamed, grabbing her hand and running off. As they ran, he grabbed his fallen hat. Beetlejuice threw her up in the air and caught her in his arms before flying off to get away from the sandworm. They were now away from the island and on the main road.

"Whew!" Beetlejuice fell to a sitting position. "We're safe now!"

"What was that thing?" Lydia asked.

Beetlejuice explained, "_That's _a Sandworm.." He shuddered as he said the word, "They live deep under the Neitherworld in a place called Sandworm Land." Beetlejuice looked at the worm on the island with fear, "And they're always trying to give us a worm welcome!"

"Well, at least it can't…" Lydia touched her chest slightly and then her face fell. She felt around a little more before looking down and gasping, "My camera! It's gone!"

"Well, that's a dog-gone shame, Babes…" He said, changing into a black and orange dog, resting his head on a paw.

"I must have dropped it when the sandworm came!"

Lydia squinted her eyes and looked over at the island. She scanned for her camera to see where she might have dropped it. Just then, she spotted it! Oh, but how she wished she hadn't. The camera was sitting right on top on the Sandworms head!

"Well, I found my camera…" She announced.

He juiced back to normal and jumped to his feet, "That's great!"

"Not really…"She pointed, "It's on top of the sandworm!"

Beetlejuice backed a few paces, "Aww…that's too bad. Well, I guess it's back to Peaceful Pines…C'mon, Babes…"

"No", she told him, "I need that camera!"

He threw up both of his arms, "Are you crazy?" He walked up to her, "We do that and we're a good as sandworm food!"

Beetlejuice and Lydia went back and forth, fighting about the pros and cons. Unbeknownst to them, the sandworm on the island was inching backwards. It then jumped and launched itself towards the two.

"Aaaah!" They both screamed, holding onto each other.

Beetlejuice pulled them out of the way of its attack just in time. Lydia ripped herself out of his grip and began running towards the sandworm, causing Beetlejuice to freak out. When he saw her running up the sandworm, he freaked even more.

"You're insane!" He shouted loudly. He then relaxed, placing a hand on his side and his eyes half closed with a smile, pointing to her with a thumb, "…Knew I liked her for a reason"

Lydia struggled to hang on. The sandworm was trying to shake her off. She was frightened but she needed that camera. It was important to her. Beetlejuice got it for her and it had all the photos for the Photo Show. She wasn't losing that. Slowly, Lydia was able to inch up until she was sitting on his head.

"If it wasn't so terrifying, I would say the view was great from up here…" She commented as she grabbed her camera, "Gotcha!"

Just as she slipped it around her neck, she began to slide down the worm. She hugged it for dear life. Lydia figured out it was about to lunge again. She was completely out of ideas; save for one.

"Beetlejuice! Heeeelp!" She screamed.

He flailed, "What do ya expect _me_ to do?"

"Anything!" She shrieked as the worm leaped towards Beetlejuice, who luckily dodged.

The worm began to shake again, finally able to swing her off. She screamed as she flew through the air and slammed into Beetlejuice.

"Oooh!" Beetlejuice yelled from the hit, "Man, you really have an impact on me, Babes!"

The sandworm wasn't giving up, though. It lunged towards both of them and the two rolled out of the way in separate directions. Lydia rolled over on her stomach and looked up; first at the sandworm and then at Beetlejuice who looked terrified. She saw the sandworm getting ready to attack him

"Beetlejuice! Get outta the way!" She cried.

He shook, "I…I can't! I'm frozen with fear!" All of a sudden, Beetlejuice was covered in a layer of frost with icicles cover every part of his body. "Uh-oh! Now I'm _really_ frozen!"

"Oh, no! I have to do something!" Lydia said, looking around before jumping to her feet. She saw her shopping bag in the corner of her eye. She thought quick and grabbed it. She held it back and then launched it at the sandworm; definitely getting its attention, "Hey, you! Pick on someone your own size…"

Just then the sandworm changed course and started slithering after her.

"Aaah! I'm not your size either!" She shouted as she ran with her hands out.

Okay, I got the sandworm away from Beetlejuice. Now what? Lydia thought to herself. She ran a little before she got an idea. If she could get the worm back into that hole in the ground, their problem would be solved. But stopping to think proved to be a stupid thing to do, she realized as she was scooped up by the worm's mouth, tightly closed on the bottom of her dress.

Beetlejuice finally broke free of his ice and looked at his friend. He raised a hand to the sky, "Lydia!"

"Beetlejuice!" She shouted back.

The Sandworm slithered backwards and then launched itself towards the island, taking her with it. He knew what it was up to. The sandworm was going to take her down to Sandworm Land.

Beetlejuice looked angry and rolled up his sleeves, "Not on my watch!" Suddenly he changed into a watch with wings and flew over to the island before changing back to normal, "Wow! Time really does fly! You okay, Babes?" He shouted up to her.

"Beej! I think we have a chance if we trick it back into Sandworm Land!" She told him.

"Well, that trick better work! Or you'll be his treat!" Beetlejuice worried.

"Don't remind me…" Lydia said, "Now, try leading him towards the hole! It's our only chance!"

"Yes, ma'am!" He gave her a salute and disappeared in a flash of smoke and appeared in front of the sandworm, taunting it.

Beetlejuice stared behind him, making sure he was getting close to the crack in the earth.

Lydia punched a fist in the air and cheered him on, "Keep it up, BJ! It's working!"

The sandworm didn't even catch on to what Beetlejuice was doing so it took one big slither and realized there was nothing but air under its tail. Its eyes widened as it awaited its fall. Its mouth flew open, causing Lydia to fall as well.

"Aaaaaah!" She screamed as she fell, only to land in Beetlejuice's arms with an "Oof!"

Beetlejuice gave her a sweet smile and joked, "We gotta keep meeting like this…"

She giggled as he took off into the air. Lydia definitely wasn't scared about flying with Beetlejuice anymore. After what she went through today, there are _much_ scarier things than heights.

Lydia let out a sigh and relaxed, throwing her head back.

"You surprise me, Babes!" He said.

She lifted her head and looked at him with slight confusion, "Huh?"

"The way you…I couldn't imagine anyone from the Living Colony taking on a sandworm like you did! I'm impressed!" Beetlejuice told her.

Lydia laughed, "I'll take that as a compliment!...Thank you for saving me"

"I couldn't let anything happen to my best bud!" Beetlejuice said.

Lydia's eyes widened for a second but then she smiled.

He smiled back and then looked at her camera. "Hey, how about one more picture?"

She blinked at him, wondering what he meant. Beetlejuice nodded at her camera and it lifted off her neck and floated in the air in front of them.

"Say cheese!" He shouted.

Both of them said "Cheese!" and the camera flashed, taking a picture of both of them; their first picture together. Lydia loved the idea of it and knew she would keep that one forever. The camera returned to her neck and she sighed in an amused but tired way.

She lifted a hand and set it on his shoulder, "Let's go to dinner…"

-

And there you have it! Chapter 8! I know most of it was basically them being chased by a sandworm but I hope it was enjoyable. Yet another scene that was in my head that I loved. Next chapter soon! Luv yaz!


	9. Chapter 9

**Un Coléoptère Dans La Neitherworld**

Chapter 9! Woo! X3 Still going strong on this thing! Hope everyone is still liking it. Enjoy!

-

The two friends managed to return to Peaceful Pines in one piece. Lydia breathed a sigh in relief to that as she and Beetlejuice road into town on Doomie. It had gotten darker as they arrived. Street lights were just coming on.

"I feel like we'll be just in time for dinner!" Lydia said.

She hadn't expected to be out so long but she definitely had fun! She couldn't believe all the new, freaky things she saw today. All this amazing stuff existed and she had no idea. The Central Neitherworld was beyond her wildest dreams and she loved it! They made memories that would last a lifetime, she thought, especially since she got some of it on camera.

The Vespa came to a halt.

"We're here, Babes…" Beetlejuice said.

Lydia removed her hands from his waist as he got up and soon after, she jumped off too. She pet Doomie as if he were an animal and he beeped for her. Her bag in hand, they began walking towards her house. That was when she had a pause of nervousness. She had almost forgotten that Beetlejuice was coming to dinner via her parents' invitation.

She tugged on his jacket and he looked back at her, "Please don't pull anything on my parents…"

"Reeeelax, Babes! That's the furthest thing from my mind!" He assured.

She didn't really believe him but she had no choice. There was no getting out of it. She just hoped he would have enough self-control; and let's face it, with Beetlejuice that was scarce. They got to her doorstep. She set a hand on the handle and turned.

Walking inside, she shouted, "I'm home!"

"We're in the kitchen, dear!" She heard her mom say.

Lydia motioned for Beetlejuice to follow. He removed his pinstriped jacket and placed it on a nearby coat rack and then ran to catch up with his friend. When they entered the kitchen, they saw her mom stirring something on the stove.

She glanced back, "You're getting in pretty late, Lydia…"

Lydia smiled cheesily, "Sorry about that, Mother…Me and Beetle—Um, Mr. Beetleman managed to find _a lot _of things to photograph so we lost track of time. It won't happen again.."

"Oh, goody! So, you managed to get all you need for the Photo Show?" Delia asked her.

"Yup!" Lydia nodded.

"Sound's great, pumpkin." Her father added, "I'm sure you managed to take pictures of a lot of relaxing things; the sky, birds, the trees"

Lydia laughed nervously and that's when Beetlejuice chimed in.

"Haha, well she did get a picture of a tree but I wouldn't exactly call it relaxing! Pfft!"

He began to laugh and Lydia elbowed him, causing him to glare slightly as he rubbed his side. He began speaking again.

"So, what's for dinner, Miss Deetz? Hot Dogs?" with that he changed into a giant hot dog, "Maybe, with a side of mashed potatoes?" then he changed into a giant potato and a giant anvil appeared from nowhere and mashed him into the floor. He spoke once again, weakly, "..More like smashed potato..Ohnnn…"

Her father saw the whole thing and began to freak out. He began shaking and pointed at Beetlejuice, "D-d-d-did you see that, Delia? He just-!"

Delia turned to him, "What _are _going on about, Charles?" She had been turned around the whole time, still focused on what she was cooking so she couldn't have noticed.

He turned to Lydia and proceeded to ask her the same question.

Lydia laughed nervously once again and denied, "Um, no…What could you mean…?"

Her father just stood there dumbfounded. He felt like he was going crazy. He saw what he saw but no one else did.

"Perhaps you should go lay down, Daddy…" Lydia suggested.

"Yeah…" Beetlejuice added, "You're not looking too well…" And just like that, he changed into a well in front of him.

Charles' eyes grew huge and then he shook his head. Once he looked again, Beetlejuice was back to normal. He placed a hand on his head.

"I think maybe you're right, dear…I'm so tired, I think I'm seeing things!" He began to walk off. "Call me down when dinner's ready… I just gotta try to relax…"

"So, Mr. Beetleman…" Delia began but Lydia interrupted.

"Uh, sorry. But…Mr. Beetleman has to use the bathroom" She said and then glared, "Don't you…?"

Beetlejuice was taken aback and gave her a confused look, "What? No, I don't-WHA-OA!" He yelled slightly as Lydia yanked on his tie quite violently, "I mean, Oh yeeeah…Yes, I do!" His voiced sounded rather choked.

"I'll show you where it is…" She said a bit sternly and then looked at her Mother, "We'll be back!"

"Alrighty!" Her mom replied optimistically, "Dinner will be done shortly!"

She dragged him away and he walked rather funny as Lydia still had a hold of his tie. His arms waved and he walked with his legs bent. After a moment or two, they were out of sight.

-

Beetlejuice and Lydia arrived in the hallway upstairs. She let go of his tie in a bit of a shove.

"Whaaaat?" Beetlejuice said. He didn't like the glares he had been getting from his friend.

She wagged a finger at him, "You said you wouldn't pull anything on my parents!" She raised her arms to the side, "You got my Father thinking he's crazy!"

"Heeey…Some of the best people are crazy!" He laughed, "I mean, hey, look at me! Besides, all that stuff was child's play…" He changed into a child version of himself, wearing a spinner hat and a long black and white shirt with blue jeans and sneakers. In a second he was back to normal, "It's not like I can help the literal translations…It comes part and parcel with the powers!" He changed into a brown package and appeared in her hands, "You gotta forgive me, Lyds! Can't help it!"

Lydia gave a sigh and threw him up in the air. He changed back to normal and just floated there

"Well, you can try watching what you say! If you're not careful, it's going to get you into big trouble! If you keep pranking people every chance you get, someone's going to find out about you!"

Beetlejuice took her warning into consideration even if he didn't believe it. What's the worst that could happen? No one knew who he was and with such a perfect disguise, he could get away with anything he wanted! Still, he did care about Lydia…He didn't want to let her down. Especially, with the next thing she said.

Lydia set a hand on his shoulder, "Please, Beetlejuice…It's important to me…"

Oh, now that just hit him straight in the heart. He placed both of his hands on her shoulders, "Okay, Lyds! You twisted my arm! I won't prank 'em!" Just as he said that, both of his arms connected and got all twisted, trapping Lydia, inadvertently pulling her close to him. "Whoa..ah, whoops!"

Lydia giggled and he smiled. She was happy again. Shaking his thoughts away, he began pulling his arms, trying to disconnect them. Accidentally, he pulled too hard and he fell to the floor, taking Lydia with him. They both shouted slightly as they fell.

"I've always known I was twisted but this is insane!" Beetlejuice said as he struggled.

After a second or two, his eyes fell on Lydia, whom because of the fall, was lying on top of him. He took in her features and blushed slightly. This closeness was making him feel strange inside; a good kind of strange but still strange. He was feeling…nervous? And he had no clue why! This made him struggle even harder with a few loud grunts.

Lydia shook her head, "Here, Beetlejuice…Let me help…"

Lydia moved herself slightly and was able to get free. Then, she took both of his arms and proceeded to turn them in odd ways, untangling them.

She laughed, "I'd hate to see you get tongue tied!"

He said up with an annoyed, blank stare, "Oh, don't even get me started!"

Lydia shook away his previous statement and stood up, offering a hand to help him up as well. "Come on, Beetlejuice. We should get back to my Mother"

Beetlejuice straightened his collar and waved his hand, "Ahh…You go ahead! Got something to take care of…" He pointed a thumb at the bathroom door.

Lydia eyed him strangely but then shrugged, "Okay, don't be long!" She set a hand on the railing and looked back, "Haha, and try not to fall in the tub again!"

Beetlejuice leaned on an invisible wall, "Trust me, Babes…I'm not _that_ sick!"

Lydia just rolled her eyes with a small laugh and walked downstairs. He waved goodbye and once she was gone, he set a hand on the bathroom door. Just before he opened it, he stopped. He cleared his throat and his eyes trailed to the side, glancing at another room down the hall. Beetlejuice stretched his left leg until he had a full foot in front of the room he was eyeing; her parents room. Just then, his entire body snapped back to his leg and he now stood in front of that room. His nature was beginning to take over again, almost forgetting his promise to his new best friend. The urge in him was sometimes just so strong that he couldn't help it!

Just then he heard the handle jiggle and he gasped, throwing himself against a wall, turning transparent. Charles walked out of the bedroom, rubbing his face in a stressed and/or tired way. He walked down the hall and entered the bathroom. Once inside, Beetlejuice became visible again. He put a hand under his chin and tapped his bottom lip with a finger. Slowly, a large, mischievous smile flew across his face.

Beetlejuice slapped each side of his face with his hands, softly and looked up, "Gee! I diiid tell Lyds I had something to take care of in the bathroom!"

He rubbed his hands together and gave a low laugh. He just loved finding loopholes. Beetlejuice set a palm on the bathroom doorknob and instantly changed into a liquid, seeping under the door crack.

-

Once inside, the puddle developed eyes and scanned the area. He could see Charles' silhouette through the shower curtain. He gave another low laugh and transformed himself into the showerhead, black and white stripes included. Suddenly, the nice, warm water became ice cold before turning into oozing green slime!

Charles' shrieked loudly as he used his arms to block it. Some got in his mouth and he spit, repeatedly. He coughed a little before falling out of the tub. He quickly grabbed a nearby towel to cover himself, trying to wipe some of the slime off. He heard a voice and then he looked up. The showerhead had stretched and was now just a few inches away from him. "Heeey, Chuckie…"

Charles looked petrified.

"I think you forgot to wash up…" The showerhead said, as shampoo and soap floated in front of him.

Charles threw his hands up in terror, "AAAAAAAAH!" He snatched his robe and zoomed out of the bathroom, followed by insane amount of Beetlejuice's laughter.

-

Charles ran downstairs, now wearing his robe.

"Delia!" He screamed and shuddered as he entered the kitchen.

Lydia and Delia gasped at his sudden appearance.

"Charles! You're a mess!" Delia said and lectured him slightly, "If you're going to go walking around the house, especially the kitchen, at least have a good bath first!"

"B-But-But-But…That's where I just came from!" Charles protested.

Lydia and Delia looked at him wide-eyed as he continued.

"It's…haaaaaaunted! There were bottles and they were floating! Slime was everywhere! And there-there was this laughter!" He explained as he moved his hands with each description.

Lydia put a hand to her mouth as Charles pulled on Delia's arm and convinced her to come with him to show her.

After a few minutes, Lydia heard some of their conversation.

"Honestly, Charles!"

"But it-it was there! I swear!"

She heard them getting closer. Her mother was the first to enter the kitchen, eyes closed and shaking her head, "You and your active imagination…" She got back to making her meal.

Lydia blinked as her father came in with a dumbfounded look. The kind of look that said 'Maybe I am crazy…'

And almost in a flash, Beetlejuice entered with an innocent smile, leaning on the entrance of the kitchen, "Sooooo….What's cookin'…?"

Lydia glared and folded her arms, speaking a little low, "Trouble…"

-

And that's where I end it! XD Hope it was entertaining. If anything, it was definitely fun to write and picture. Poor Charles. Always the object of BJ's pranks. His poor nerves. Haha, More soon!


	10. Chapter 10

**Un Coléoptère Dans La Neitherworld**

Chapter 10 is here! Yaaaay! X3333 Enjoy! Things are getting interesting! Woo!

-

"…Haahooheheheh…" Beetlejuice laughed nervously, with his hands folded behind his back, staring at his obviously angry friend.

Lydia walked with a sway, curling her finger a few times, signaling for him to follow her. He swallowed a gulp of fear and did so. They entered the living room. She had her back turned to him and was tapping a foot. Oh yeah, he knew he was in trouble. So, naturally, he tried to get out of it.

"So..ah…crazy story, huh?" He opened the conversation.

She instantly turned to look at him and he could see the anger in her eyes and jolted back a bit. Lydia stomped up to him, "Like you don't know!"

Beetlejuice gasped and placed a hand on his chest, as if he was shocked, "You don't think I had anything to do with that, do you?"

"Of course, I do!" She returned, "Do you see any other ghosts around here?"

Beetlejuice instantly ran over to her and covered her mouth. Her eyes widened as her speech was muffled under his hand.

"Careful, Babes! You'll blow my cover!" He warned.

With both hands, Lydia managed to rip his hand off her mouth, "Me?" Lydia said pretty loud but then lowered her voice to keep her parents from hearing. She stared up at him, "That's what _you're _gonna do if you keep this up!" Lydia folded her arms and looked away.

"Keep what up…?" He asked in a confused way as he floated in the air, close to the ceiling.

She screamed and then heard her parents call her. She gasped and instantly jumped up and yanked his tie, pulling him down to the ground. They both smiled cheesily as her Mother and Father entered the living room.

"Is everything okay in here…?" Her father asked.

Lydia laughed, "Oh…yes, Father!"

Charles shrugged it off and said, "Alright, dear. Make sure you get washed up for dinner…"

With that, they went back into the kitchen. Lydia let out a huge sigh and let go of Beetlejuice and he fell to the floor. She looked at him and instantly pulled him to his feet. Lydia fixed his tie and brushed him off.

"Alright, Beej…" She said and he blinked at her, "I'll give you _one_ more chance…" She held up her pointer finger, "But you have to be on your best behavior!"

He stood up straight, as if he were a soldier. He gave a salute, "Roger, Major Lyds! I _can_ do that" He changed into a can and floated before her. After that, he transformed into himself, wearing an angel costume with a harp, "I'll be a perfect angel!"

Lydia couldn't help but giggle. Her eyes lowered with a smile and she placed her hands on her sides as she looked at him, "Well, I sure hope so…"

So, a bit of time passed. Lydia washed up for dinner. Beetlejuice cringed, even _thinking_ about washing up before dinner. And before you knew it, they were sitting at the dinner table in the dining room. Dinner hadn't been served yet, everyone was just talking; mainly Delia who had been going on about her art and such. Lydia just wore a bored expression as she played with her fork. Then, without warning, Delia seemed to turn to Beetlejuice, who had been toying with a beetle he'd had in his pocket.

"So, Mr. Beetleman…" She began.

Hearing that, both Lydia and Beetlejuice sat up straight in their seats instantly. Beetlejuice jammed the bug inside his vest and tugged on his collar a little bit. He really was trying to be on his best behavior, for Lydia's sake. He was doing okay so far but being 'good' was a real challenge for him.

He cleared his throat and placed a hand on his vest, "Yes, Ma'am..?"

"How long have you been in Photography..?"

Beetlejuice closed his eyes and gave a smile, "Oh, a day or two…" Her parents eyed him strangely and he felt a kick from under the table, "Ow!..I-I mean…uh, it _feels _like only a couple days, haha…but I've been doing it for aaages…Love getting those shots! 'Cept for flu shots, pfft!" He joked and they seemed to laugh too. So he continued "And your daughter here! Why, she's a naturaaal!"

"Really…?" Charles asked.

"Oh yes, you got one talented kid, there!" He complimented, "She's got the type of photos you can really sink your teeth into!"

Beetlejuice got up and elbowed Lydia fondly, "Seriously, Babes! They look delicious…" Then, he sat back in his seat.

Delia clapped her hands together, "Well, that's delightful! We've got ourselves a little artist, dear!" She looked at Charles for a moment with cheerfulness.

Lydia felt both embarrassed but flattered at the same time. She wondered if he was just sucking up to her parents or if he really meant it. But still, Lydia thought as she placed a hand on her cheek, he was being good. He seemed to actually be making an effort to be nice. Maybe there was hope for him yet!

Delia got up from the table and told everyone she was off to get dinner. Lydia leaned forward and set a hand on Beetlejuice's. His eyes widened slightly and he gave her a questioning look.

"I'm really proud of you!" She said in a loud whisper, giving him a sweet smile.

He smiled big and grabbed the trim of his vest closest to his tie, "See? I can do this!"

Lydia sat back up and so did he as they heard her Mother re-enter the dining room. She was carrying a large, light blue bowl covered with a lid. She set it down in the middle of the table. Beetlejuice exposed a green striped tongue and licked his lips while rubbing his hands together.

Charles smiled, stuffing a napkin in his collar, "What are we having this evening, dear?"

Delia beamed, seeming so happy that he asked. She placed a palm on the handle of the lid, "We're having my famous spaghetti!"

"Spaghetti?" Beetlejuice instantly blurted out but quickly covered his mouth with both hands, causing Lydia to stare at him. He just laughed nervously, adjusting his hat. After a moment or two, she was just paying attention to her parents who began talking about something else.

Beetlejuice felt his breath shorten. He messed with his collar and then twiddled his fingers back and forth. He felt both anxious and nervous. That urge…no…not that urge again! He cracked every one of his fingers and then set his hands on his legs. His hands tightened on the fabric of his pants.

He closed his eyes tightly and whispered in a hoarse voice, "Mm'not gonna prank…Mm'not gonna prank…"

Beetlejuice opened his eyes and began to sweat. He glanced at Lydia in the corner of his eye. She was counting of him. She said she was _proud_ of him. How many times has he heard that? Oh…that's right; Never! Man, he just did not know what to do. The temptation was killing him again, he thought as he bit on his nails. It took all of his self-control to keep his head from spinning wildly from all this pressure. He breathed in and out a couple times as he gazed at the spaghetti noodles

"Okay..Okay…" He said in a low voice. Lucky that no one was even paying attention to him, "I knooow I promised Lydia I wouldn't…But how can I resist?"

Beetlejuice blinked his eyes one time and subtle magic surged from his body and shot the bowl of spaghetti. Suddenly, striped green snakes with bright yellow eyes filled the bowl and began to scatter themselves all around the table. Charles was the first to shoot out of his seat and then run off with a large scream, soon followed by his wife.

Beetlejuice heard the door slam and he instantly fell out of his chair and began laughing hysterically as he kicked his legs. He was so busy laughing, he didn't even hear Lydia push her chair in violently and stomp out of the room.

He took a breath or two between his laughter, "Did you- Did you see their faces, Lyds?"

There was nothing but silence so he sat up, still with a smile, "Lyds…?"

He frowned when he saw she was nowhere in sight. Then suddenly, he cringed as her heard the faint sound of a door slamming. It wasn't the front door. It came from upstairs.

His eyes shrunk and he gave a low, "Uh…Oh…" He vanished in a flash of light and reappeared at the top of the stairs.

-

Beetlejuice walked around the hallway until he found his friend's bedroom door. He placed a hand on the doorknob. He twisted and that's when he realized it was locked. He began to feel something he wanted to get rid of; guilt. Beetlejuice was the type who believed nothing he did was wrong. He placed both hands and head on the door, trying to listen to any noise coming from her.

"…Lydia? You in there?"

"Go away!" He heard her shout.

His eyes widened and then they narrowed, "Heeeey, it's me!"

"I know!" She replied.

"So let me iiin!" He said back.

"No! You're not coming in!" Lydia said, "I don't want to see you right now!"

"Oh, yeah?" He gave a small glare and placed his hands on his sides, "We'll see about _that_ !"

He phased through the door with an all-knowing smile, his hands still on his sides, "I _am_ a ghost, you know…"

Lydia was sitting on the edge of the bed with a hand on either side of her face, elbows on her knees and was wearing an angry expression, "Then why don't you go haunt someone else's house!"

Beetlejuice looked sympathetic but still wore a smile. He lifted his hands "Come on, Babes! You don't really mean that!"

She folded her arms and turned away from him. He tore off his hat and tossed it to the floor before running over to her. Lydia still didn't face him. She had her eyes closed; which was why she was totally off guard when she felt herself bouncing up and down. Her eyes shot open and her arms dropped to her sides. She glanced back at her bed and noticed Beetlejuice was jumping and down on it!

"Aah! Beetle! Juice! What! Are you doing?" She shouted in between bounces.

He continued to jump and when Lydia was in the air for a brief moment, he said "Just trying to 'lift' your spirits! Bring out that 'up'beat personality of yours!" He began to jump harder.

"Beetlejuice!" She shouted as she tried to maintain her sitting position but kept bouncing up in strange ways.

"This is fun!" Beetlejuice exclaimed as he did one final hard jump with a "Ha!"

That final jump sent Lydia flying off the bed and onto the floor with a thud as she landed on her backside, facing him with an "Oof!"

Beetlejuice stopped jumping and bent down, still standing on the bed. A slightly concerned expression overtook his face and he lifted a finger to his face, "…Oops…"

Lydia shook her head to regain her composure and then looked up at him with a mad look, "Do you even know why I'm mad at you…?"

He gave her a blank but guilty stare, "Uh…cause I launched you off the bed, haheeheh…"

Lydia shook her head with her eyes closed, "No!"

Beetlejuice put a hand on his collar and turned his head but still looked at her, "You found those bugs I left in your pillowcase…?"

Her eyes widened, "What?"

His eyes widened and he jumped off her bed with a laugh, "Ah…Nevermind, Babes!" He pulled Lydia to her feet, "So tell me, Lyds…" He twisted his body in strange, physically impossible ways and asked, "What's got you so bent out of shape?"

"You!" She said as she poked him, causing him to twist back into his usual form and fall on the ground.

"Me?" Beetlejuice sounded shocked, "What'd I do?"

She placed her hands on her sides and glared, "You broke your promise to me!"

He got up and looked confused, in almost an annoyed way, "What's the big deal? Ah!" All of a sudden, a large flyer came flying at him and the paper pasted him against the wall, "Ooh…sale on toe jam…"

Lydia walked over to him as the flyer slipped off the wall and he fell on his face.

"The _big _deal is when you make a promise to a friend, you're supposed to keep it!" Lydia explained and then he stood up.

"Why would anyone agree to that? That sounds pretty stupid!" He said as he looked up in thought.

"Oh, you think so?" Lydia said, gritting her teeth.

"Yeah, I do!" He said, bending down to her level.

"Fine! Then why don't you just leave?" She snapped.

"Maybe I will!" Beetlejuice replied, in an equally snappy tone.

"Good!" She said.

He glared and gave a "Hmmph!" He placed his hands on his head and then ripped off the white mask covering his eyes. Beetlejuice tossed it to the ground and put his hands in his pockets. He juiced back into the clothes he was wearing when he first met her, his hair now down. He slightly glanced back at her, "Later, Babes!" With that, his disappeared in a poof of smoke and bugs.

When he was finally gone, Lydia's expression softened and she just stared at the door with a bit of sadness. She then threw herself on her bed, burying her head in her blanket.

She escaped him but she couldn't escape her thoughts of him. He wouldn't keep a promise to someone he called his 'best friend'. Did he care about her at all…?

-

Woo! 'Out Of My Mind' references for the win! XD This chapter was fun to write. It's a little sad but don't worry. It all gets better OwO Or does it? Find out next chapter.


	11. Chapter 11

**Un Coléoptère Dans La Neitherworld**

I hope I didn't make you guys wait too long! X3 Looking forward to this chapter. Should be fun. It's probably not what you expect tho XD

-

So, there he was, out in the dark once more. It was just like that night they met but without the rain. He was on his own. Beetlejuice was beginning to feel sad. He removed his hat and clutched tightly as he wondered around the town, aimlessly. Suddenly, his defense system began to kick in. He roughly put his hat back on his head and folded his arms.

"Ha! What am I sad for? I don't—I didn't need her!" He assured himself and then threw his hands in the air, "All she did was hold me back! Do this! Don't do that! Yadda, yadda, yadda!" He turned around and spoke in a mocking tone, "Don't use your magic in public! Stop doing pranks like…._this! _" Beetlejuice then threw some magic at a car, turning it into a large roller-skate, "You'll get in troooouble…Ha! What a laugh"

Just then, he froze in his tracks when he heard a police siren. He slowly turned around and noticed where it was coming from. It was the roller-skate. There were flashing lights on top of them.

"That was a cop car, wasn't it…?" Beetlejuice said with defeat.

The sirens sounded louder and louder so he took this time to run away screaming. He found safety as he dashed in a nearby alleyway. He breathed heavy as he leaned against the wall.

"Boy, that was a close one!" He sighed in relief and the wall of the building in front of him grew and smashed him against the wall he was leaning on. He spoke with an injured voice, "'Course…not as close as thiiiis…"

With that, the walls turned back to normal and he fell into a sitting position, looking flatter than an ironing board. He stuck his thumb in his mouth and blew until he popped back into shape.

He stared up, annoyed, "Dontcha just hate when the walls close in on ya…?"

He just sat there for a minute or two. It was then that he heard the sound of a vehicle. He gasped, thinking it might be the police.

Beetlejuice sighed in relief at the sight of his Vespa. Doomie drove into the alleyway and next to his sitting owner.

Doomie beeped and made other motor-like noises, as if he was talking. Beetlejuice sighed at Doomie's 'words'. He seemed to be asking about Lydia.

Beetlejuice placed a hand on top of his head and wore an upset expression, "Gee, Doomie! Don't I feel stupid! As much as it kills me…again…to say it, Lyds was right!" He glanced out of the alley for a second but then quickly returned to his previous position. "Pranks _are_ giving me away!" He popped out of a present, "She was trying to help me and I let her down!...I've never felt so low…" He literally deflated.

Doomie began to beep and make sounds again.

Beetlejuice instantly inflated and wore a shocked face, "Apooologize? Your motor's musta been runnin' too long! I don't even know the meaning of that word!" He paused, "Come to think of it, there's _a lot_ of words I don't know the meaning of."

Suddenly he heard a whistling noise and looked above, letting out a scream as he was smashed by a giant dictionary. He pushed it off him and the book opened. Intrigued, he read the opened entry. One of the top words

"Hmm... 'Best Friend - the one friend who is closest to you. A person you know well and regard with affection and… trust" He stared up with shock as he read the last word, "I'm a looousy best friend!"

Doomie tried nudging and comforting him. He then drove in front on him, signaling for Beetlejuice to get on. Beetlejuice just shook his head and lifted a hand "Face it, Doom-a-roo, Lydia doesn't want anything to do with me!"

Doomie made a sad sounding motor noise as he stared sympathetically at the depressed ghost.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaahaaah!" Beetlejuice cried like a baby. He lost the only friend he's ever had and it was all his fault.

-

Lydia woke up the next day. She wondered about the events of last night. After she was able to shake off the sleepiness, she remembered dinner…and the fight. She had told her parents some type of excuse that they justifiably believed and told them Mr. Beetleman had business to attend to elsewhere. She got ready for school. Her uniform consisted of a short blue green jacket and white blouse with a thick black tie. She also wore a dark, knee-length skirt that had some ruffle to it. Above her skirt was a sash that matched the color of her jacket and had a spider charm clipped to it. On her feet she wore almost knee-high dark gray socks with black shoes.

Lydia woke up pretty early so she still had some time to spare. So, she decided to go down to her dark room. Developing some of her photos would cheer her up. She spent quite a bit of time down there. The first one she got to do was the really spooky tree. That definitely made her smile. It looked sooo cool! Lydia turned around and squinted at the clock on the wall. She had time for one more before school began.  
>She wasn't quite sure what this next one was. But she did everything she had to, to figure it out.<p>

"Now, let's see what you are…" She used tongs to pick up her wet photo. When she saw what it was, she almost dropped it. It…was that photo. The last photo Lydia had taken with her camera and the first picture of her and Beetlejuice.

"First…" She laughed bitterly, "..Probably the last…" Lydia hung the picture on the line with a clip. She folded her arms and looked to the side, "I guess I _was_ a little harsh on him. I shouldn't have kicked him out like that…" Lydia even gave a small giggle as she thought of his prank, "I guess it _was_ kinda funny…"

She paused for a moment and then had a thought. She made a determined fist, "I know! I'll go looking for him!"

"Lyyyyydiaaaa!" came Delia's shrill voice.

Lydia looked to the side and gave a sigh, "…Aaafter school…"

-

It was a normal school day; boring beyond belief. Lydia just wanted it to be over. She had no friends and was constantly teased by Clare. She found herself drawing creepy doodles in her book. She drew some spiders, cobwebs and then finally a generic ghost. Then she began drawing a picture of her and Beetlejuice next to each other. It wasn't very good but it definitely made her smile. Everything would be okay! She just knew it! Hearing her teacher's voice get louder, she instantly changed the page in her notebook and began taking down notes.

Time had passed and it was their study period. Clare took this moment to harass Lydia.

"Why, heeeello, Deetz…" She spoke

"Clare, we're supposed to be studying!" Lydia said in a loud whisper.

Clare just ignored her though, "Sooo, like, how goes your photography with that smelly, old guy?"

Lydia glared and she held back all the ways she wanted to insult her. You could hear the hesitation in her voice, "…Just fine"

Clare gestured to herself, "Well, miiine is going, like, great! I have so many photos that I can't count…"

Lydia sighed and rested her head on a hand. She said quietly, "That would be difficult for you…"

Then she was taken by surprise when the blonde girl poked her and said, "How many have _you_ gotten done…"

"Uh…T-two…" Lydia's voice sounded nervous.

Clare giggled nastily, "What a laugh! Only two!" She looked back at friends of hers, "What a loser!"

Lydia glared and bit her bottom lip. She stood up quickly, making Clare step back a bit. "I'll have you know, I have dozens of photos! Photos I actually took myself! And they are the freakiest!"

"Is that so…?" Clare's eyes narrowed.

Lydia nodded.

"Then, like, bring them to school tomorrow! Prove it! We'll see whose better!"

"Okay!" Lydia agreed.

Clare sat back in her seat and an innocent look came to her face. She raised her hand and Lydia's face gained a confused look, "Oh, Miss Shannon!"

"Yes, Miss Brewster?" said the red-headed teacher as she looked up from her papers.

Clare pointed at Lydia who was still standing up, "Like, Lydia is bothering me while I am trying to study…"

Lydia was frozen in place and her jaw dropped.

"Miss Deetz!" Miss Shannon yelled.

"No…No! It wasn't…" Lydia protested.

"Lydia!" Her teacher replied. "No back talk! You know this is study period. Chat is for after school…"

"But! But!" Lydia tried to explain but her teacher wasn't giving her a chance. She pointed to the door.

"To the office!"

Lydia wanted to fight and tell her that it was Clare but what was the point? She wasn't listening. Lydia heaved a heavy sigh, grabbed her books and went.

-

She got a stern talking to, which she definitely didn't deserve but she complied and got out just by the time school was over. She exited the building and that's when she was greeted by an insanely loud sound; Sirens. Lydia jumped back as a fast moving row of cop cars zoomed past her. There was one parked near the sidewalk. Lydia lifted a hand and glanced at it with slight curiosity. She crept closer.

She could hear some voices coming from a radio:

_We are in heavy pursuit of the Central Neitherworld Entity…I repeat, We have found him and are closing in. He is riding a dull, yellow Vespa…_

_"Pull over!"_

_"Aaaaah!"_

_"Lyds!"  
><em>

Lydia jumped and her eyes widened, "That's Beetlejuice! Oh, no!" She brought both hands up to her face, "I just _knew_ he'd get himself into trouble!"

Lydia took off running. She was running so fast that she didn't notice when she accidentally rammed into someone. She fell back with eyes tightened. Lydia shook her head and then looked ahead to see what had happened. She gasped when she saw a boy who seemed to be her age, on the floor. Lydia ran to help him up.

"So sorry! I should have been looking where I was going" Lydia apologized.

The boy dusted himself off, "Oh, It's quite alright…" He then looked up at Lydia and froze.

Lydia blinked at him, he just seemed to be staring at her. She felt awkward so she held out her hand, "Uh…I'm Lydia! Hehe…"

He grabbed her hand but not in the way she expected. He got on one knee and kissed it. Lydia's eyes widened and she lifted a hand to her face.

The boy looked up at her, "Lydia…What a sweet name, for an equally sweet girl!"

This boy sure was a charmer! She just kept looking at the direction she needed to go. Beetlejuice needed her help. But she couldn't just leave; it would look strange and not to mention rude.

The dark haired boy spoke again, "My name is Vince!"

Lydia took her hand back and laughed nervously, "It's very nice to meet you!" She observed him, "Hmm…" Lydia circled him.

"Umm…What…?" He wondered.

"Oh, sorry…It's just you…You're not from around here, are you…?" Lydia asked.

Vince gave a small laugh. This girl really lifted his spirits, "Is it that obvious…? I am from the Central Neitherworld. I am Prince Vince, The Prince of The Neitherworld…" He explained.

Her eyes widened as she viewed his crown, "Oh, your highness!" She bowed for him.

She wondered what another Neitherworld entity was doing here. Were they trying to take over the Living colony by sending one Central Neitherworld inhabitant at a time? So many questions were in her mind. But she didn't have time for this right now! She had to go; Beetlejuice needed her!

She gave another curtsy and told him, "Sorry to leave so quickly but I gotta go!" Lydia waved and began to run again.

"Sweet Lydia!" Prince Vince called in a pleading and almost sorrowful way. A cloud began to form over his head, "Wait!"

Lydia gazed back at him with confusion.

"Will I ever see you again?" He asked, hopefully.

"Sure! As long as you're in Peaceful Pines!" Lydia promised and then continued to run off.

A smile came to Vince's face and he set a hand over his heart. He gave a loving sigh and the cloud above his head disappeared. In just under a minute, this young girl had stolen his heart and he was determined to take hers. But…Unbeknownst to Lydia, Vince is the one who is trying to get rid of Beetlejuice. Her mere introduction to him may have compromised her best friend's safety. This can't be good…

-

And that's another chapter! XD Uh-oh! Things are about to get very interesting, especially since now Vince is in the mix! XD Well, since Beetlejuice is our Francoeur, no doubt Vince would have to be our Raoul...


	12. Chapter 12

**Un Coléoptère Dans La Neitherworld**

Chapter 12! Woo! I am on a roll! XD I've just had a surge of ideas so that's good. Had no idea this fic would be so long but I'm enjoying it so it's great 8D

-

Beetlejuice was going as fast as he could. He cranked Doomie's handlebars as hard as he could, causing the Vespa to whimper a little.

"Come on! If you don't go any faster, they're going to catch up to us!" Beetlejuice yelled as a large ketchup bottle appeared in the sky above him. It opened and drenched them both. He shook it off after a moment.

Doomie whimpered again but sped up a bit. It wasn't enough for Beetlejuice, though. He looked back and noticed the police cars gaining on him and he freaked. He threw a tantrum in his seat and began kicking the Vespa, roughly. Doomie growled slightly as a warning.

Beetlejuice glared, "Oh, don't you get mad at me, you worthless bucket o' bolts! Maybe if you were a little faster, we wouldn't be in this situation!"

This was just getting Doomie angry! Beetlejuice felt the Vespa rumble and shake. His eyes shrunk with almost an 'Oh, crap' look plastered on his face.

Beetlejuice pet Doomie with a seemingly frightened compassion, "Uh, hahaheh, you know, I was just kiiidding…."

He lifted his hands from the handlebars a moment and he looked all around at Doomie and all his yellow metal got covered in deep red fur. His eyes looked crazy and psycho. Beetlejuice gasped as Doomie stood up on his back wheels before taking off with super high speed. The ghost was flapping in the wind as he barely managed to hold on to the handlebars

"Aaaah!" He screamed with a freaked out expression, "Too fast!"

Doomie came to an instant halt, causing Beetlejuice to be launched through the air, losing his hat, onto the street in front of him. He got to his knees and shook his head.

"The flight was okay…But you can work on your landing!" He shouted the last part as he looked at his vehicle.

Beetlejuice noticed his crazy state and did not want any part of it. He snatched his hat off the ground and began running off. He glanced back as he ran and saw that Doomie was ripping through and attacking some of the cop cars.

Beetlejuice smiled and spoke with an admiring tone, "…That's my Vespa!"

He wasn't watching where he was going so he rammed into a pole and then vibrated away from it. He became dizzy and was seeing stars. When he regained his composure, he screamed, "Can't a guy get a break!"

He heard sirens and looked back. His eyes bugged out of his head as he saw at least two cars coming after him. He yelled, "Apparently, not!"

Beetlejuice continued to run, picking up speed and breathing heavily. He looked left and right; scanning his surroundings. There had to be someplace he could hide. Then, suddenly he spied an alley way. He darted for it. Once he got there, he continued running down the alley but noticed something and he skidded to a stop. It was blocked off by a wall.

"A dead end!" He whined as he felt and pounded the wall, "For a dead guy!" He took a gulp and backed into the wall with fear as he heard the cops getting closer, "Soon to be deader!"

"Well…" He walked forward a little bit and rummaged through his coat. He pulled out a bug, "At least I have time for one more beetle…" He lifted it up to his mouth and before he even got the chance, he was grabbed and pulled into a nearby window.

Beetlejuice almost started to freak out. He thought that this was it! Until he realized who it was that grabbed him. He could hardly believe it. It was Lydia!

His eyes shook a bit, "…Lydia?"

She pulled him down into a sitting position below the window and covered his mouth. He stayed quiet and so did she as they heard cops enter the alleyway. They could hear their voices and radios. They could also hear the faint sirens. After a few minutes, the two heard the cops leave the street near the building they were in and heard the sirens take off into another direction. Beetlejuice and Lydia could finally breathe safely and relaxed in their sitting position.

"Whew!" Lydia sighed, wiping sweat from her brow.

Beetlejuice couldn't take his eyes off of her. He couldn't believe that even after being such a jerk to her, she would save him.

Lydia stood up and brushed some dirt off of her skirt, "Well, I have to hand it to ya, Beej…You sure have a talent for getting into trouble!"

He looked up at her with a nervous, open-mouth grin. She offered her hand and he took it as she helped him up. He dusted off his coat and looked at her as if he wanted to say something but he couldn't think of a thing. He didn't expect to ever see her again and yet here she was. He took out a giant magnifying glass. He began to search around the flower shop they were in with it.

Lydia dusted off her shoulder a little more and then looked at him with slight amusement in her voice, "What are you doing…?"

"Oh.." He spoke softly, "Trying to find my words…" He stood up straight a second and looked at her, looking a bit concerned, "I'm speechless!" Then he joked, "Kinda like Mayor Maynot when I wrecked his press conference, Pfft!"

Lydia shook her head, rolling her eyes. She began walking away into an aisle, expecting him to follow. But he didn't. When she realized this, she turned around and before she even got the chance to speak, he did.

"_Why_ did you save me?" He truly was curious.

Her eyes widened and she walked up to him. She raised her hands as she spoke, "I couldn't let them do anything to you, Beetlejuice!" She grabbed his dangling scarf and played with it for a moment before tossing it over his shoulder with a sweet smile. She gazed into his eyes, waiting until she got his to meet hers and then she said, "You're my best friend!"

Beetlejuice eyes widened and then narrowed as he turned his head, still looking at her though. He quoted the dictionary "You mean…the friend closest to you, whom you regard with affection and _trust_…?"

Lydia raised her arms as if it was the silliest question she'd ever heard, "Of course!"

"How can you forgive me so easily?" Beetlejuice asked her. He just did not understand her. How could somebody be so caring? He most certainly wasn't that way.

She spoke sweetly, "Because that's what friends do!"

He felt so incredibly flattered by how much she cared for him. He'd never had a friend before and certainly not one as amazing as she was. He truly felt so lucky.

He folded his arms behind his back, "Gosh, Babes…"

She just giggled.

It was then that the flower shop's owner came up to them, "Umm…Excuse me…?

Lydia panicked and grabbed a nearby bouquet of flowers and shoved it in Beetlejuice's face. He looked dumbfounded but held it in place with his hands.

Lydia laughed nervously, folding her hands and said, "Uhh…Yes sir…?"

"Is there anything you needed help with…?" The owner asked.

Beetlejuice bent down, still covering his face with the flowers, "We need to split!" He said in a loud whisper as a small crack appeared on his forehead.

Lydia cleared her throat and began to speak, "Oh..no, no…we were just…" She lifted a hand, "looking around…" She grabbed Beetlejuice's hand, "And now, we must get going!" After that last word, Lydia began to run, pulling Beetlejuice with her.

Beetlejuice still held the flowers close to his face as they left the store. The store owner ran out after them.

"Heeey! You need to pay for those!" The owner yelled. Not even a second later, he was hit in the face with said flowers and said not another word.

-

Beetlejuice and Lydia had stopped running. The ghost had been using his red scarf to cover his face. Lydia glanced around at the streets. There was not a cop or police car in sight and she was relieved at that. She felt like a fugitive.

"I think we're safe for now!" Lydia breathed, one hand on her side.

Beetlejuice's eyes shifted a few times and then he pulled down his scarf, "That's a relief!"

Lydia closed her eyes and set a hand on her head, "You said it! All this running is making me feel like a criminal! I just-"

She was interrupted when she felt something grab her legs. Her eyes shot open and she looked down. Beetlejuice was down by her feet, hugging her legs.

"Ah!" She shouted with surprise.

"Lyds!" Beetlejuice sounded hysterical, "You gotta take me back!"

"Wha?" Lydia was so confused.

"I'm a mess without you!" Beetlejuice cried, transforming into a pile of dirt, "And normally, I'd like that!" He changed into gravel, "I am groveling at your feet! Keep me under control!"

A control remote appeared in her hand and he changed back to normal in front of her. Lydia shrugged and pressed the button; she saw a surge of electricity go through him and he was instantly covered with chains all over his body. She gasped as he fell over with a clacking metal sound. She pressed the button again and all that disappeared and she tossed the control behind her back. Lydia lifted his arm around her shoulder and helped him up.

"Okay, Beetlejuice…" Lydia agreed.

"Ya mean it?" A smile flew across Beetlejuice's face.

"Yeah, I mean it…" She replied with a smile, "Let's go home…"

They began walking together in the direction of her house, his arm still around her. They were walking for a few minutes.

Lydia broke the silence and said, "You know, I found those bugs you left in my pillowcase…"

Beetlejuice laughed nervously and scratched his head with his free hand, "Yeah…ahaha…I'll take those back…Gettin' kinda hungry…"

"This time, Beetlejuice…Listen to my warnings; No more pranking…" Lydia pleaded.

Beetlejuice put a hand behind his back and smiled as he crossed his fingers, "Okay, Okay…I won't prank anyone anymore…"

Lydia smiled all-knowingly, "…You're lying"

Beetlejuice tightened his grip on her shoulder, pulling her in a little, "Ah, Lyds! You know me so well…"

She just giggled. Apology or not, she could tell he was sorry and even better, his actions showed that he did care for her and that's all she needed. Criminal or not, Lydia was just glad to have him by her side again.

-

X333 I like this chapter. They is back together and BJ is safe…for now. OwO Also, the whole flowers scene was a reference to the trailer for Un Monstre A Paris. Just curious if anyone caught that XD

Hope you enjoyed. More soon!


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